


Choices

by Vermilion_Bird



Category: Fast and the Furious Series, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-22
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-01-26 03:11:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1672544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vermilion_Bird/pseuds/Vermilion_Bird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All she ever cared about was cars and the people she called family. But when the Yakuza took her to run drugs for them, they destroyed what she had left. Good thing someone's there to put everything back together.HanXOC</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

1

The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.   
Mark Twain

Z  
The Tokyo skyline rose high above the wet streets. The lights of passing cars flickered well below the elaborate apartment building on the expensive side of town. The streets were clogged with the usual slit-your-wrists traffic and thousands of pedestrians on one cross walk. But that was Tokyo: lights and millions of people swarming all around each other. There was the Underground of course, but I had never seen the street races that were supposed to be untoppable.  
I was forbidden from being there.  
I walked the streets like one of Tokyo's millions of citizens, but I might as well have been in a cage. My flight risk label gained from my crazy risks and past history of disappearing when things got hard for me had Kamata scrambling to keep me contained.  
I hated it. I hated every bit of it. I couldn't get away from it, either. The only good thing about Tokyo was the part of my job involving cars. And the money was nice too.  
I was as close to happy as I could get in Tokyo when my phone would ring. The night always ended with me getting a wad of cash that was the equivalent of months of hard work at a normal job and the adrenaline rush I needed to survive as I out ran cops and other Yakuza drivers.  
The crash from the adrenaline rush always hurt, though. After a job, I was usually stuck in gangster bars talking with Kamata about the next job I would do, sitting in my empty apartment wishing I was back in the States, or stuck in an old storage room with Kamata's nephew.  
I had been thrown in with his little group so I wouldn't go completely crazy from loneliness and he could still keep and eye on me. They were not my favorite people. I missed my friends and family in the States, but I wasn't exactly keeping in contact with them. I had been told from the start there were extreme consequences for me if I attempted to contact someone to help me. That exactly didn't stop me from sending a few emails from my ipod when no one was looking.  
I wasn't met with the response I was hoping for. My family had a massive job go wrong that hurt a lot of people involved last time they were involved with the mafia; after that, something like this would get you disowned. The replies I got told me that I was nothing but a reckless coward for disappearing when things got tough and I needed get own self out of this mess. They hit the nail on the head about the reckless coward thing, but a little bit of help would have been nice.  
It sounds like I complain a lot, and I guess I do, but I have good reason to. When my dad died I took his place running drugs to pay off my uncle's substantial gambling debt with a Yakuza loan shark. I was literally dragged to Tokyo. Well, more like drugged and thrown into some guy's carry on.  
Working for them did have its perks. I had a garage by the docks and an apartment waiting for me when I got to Tokyo. The garage was my favorite. I had found an Mazda Rx-8 in DK's garage that he hated and immediately took it back to my place and started rebuilding. I chose times when I knew I wasn't going to be bumping into DK or his idiot friends who were always stopping by to work on it.  
That's why I was a little shocked when someone changed the song on my ipod. After a long mental debate on whether I needed to stay under my car or go see who it was, I slid out and pulled myself up on my feet. A very attractive Asian man with very broad shoulders and longer hair was watching me with an amused look on his face and a bag of chips in his hand. I gave him a sidelong look as I leaned on the fender that was supposed to look arrogant and nonchalant, but it wound up looking like I was cornered and looking for a reason to run.  
"You know you could put that on the lift, and then you wouldn't have to get completely under it." He drawled out with a smirk. My eyes traveled over his face trying to figure him out. I could tell he was a lot older than DK, and he had the same confidence a lot of the Yakuza had, but he didn't seem like one of them. He had on a sweat shirt and baggy khakis instead of colorful sweat pants or suits like the rest of the Yakuza wore.  
"I like it this way." I replied slowly. I had managed to tone down the caged animal expression and get something a little more bored.  
"I'm looking for L. Gonzalez. You seen him, kid?"  
"I think you mean Ellie Gonzalez. If you do, you found her." I had to smirk. It was a very common mistake.  
For some reason everyone assumed my nick names Elle or Ellie were first initials. I'm sure they were all picturing some massive, stocky, gang-tattoo covered cholo fresh out of prison. No one expected Kamata's driver to be a 5'1" Puerto Rican girl.  
He gave me a quick once over with one of those piercing gazes that doesn't miss anything. It made me self consciously squirm in my grease stained wife beater I had borrowed from DK and my worn jeans from Neela that were falling off my skinny hips.  
"I'm Han. DK asked me to take you to the races." He told me slowly. He paused to pop a few chips into his mouth. "Before I do that, we have got to find you some new clothes.


	2. Off to the Races

2

We welcome passion, for the mind is briefly let off duty.   
Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

Z  
Of all the places I thought I'd end up that day, speeding down the freeway sitting in a blue and orange Nissan Silvia S15 next to one of DK's friends was not one of them. It probably would have been a good idea to ask why DK was making me go to the races, but I chose to worry about that later and filled the drive with a conversation about the car. I grilled him like an excited kid that had just been told they were going to Disney World. I tried to keep the excitement under wraps of course, but I needed new ideas for my Mazda and this was a perfect way to get them.

"How did you get into cars?" Han cut in before I could ask another question about the new, bigger turbo he had just installed.

"My dad." I answered flatly. That was not the way I wanted the conversation to turn. I was happy as a kid at Christmas when cars were mentioned, but I wasn't quite ready to talk about anything else with him. He seemed okay; unlike most of D's crew he was calm and mature. He was also a lot better looking then most of them with his tan skin and full lips.

He didn't ask anything else after my tone changed. Awkwardness set in quickly after that. I started to squirm in the black leather seats as I watched the other cars flash by. His dark eyes kept flicking over to me as pulled off the freeway onto my street.

"Up on the right? " He asked, as we got close to my building. I gave a quiet "yeah" in response. We made it through the gilded lobby and into the elevator in complete silence.

It was killing me to be this quiet, but I couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't lead into more personal question. I couldn't just start firing questions about the Silvia again, because that obviously annoyed him. Luckily he spoke so I didn't have to think of anything.

"How'd you wind up in Tokyo? Dad a business man?"

"No, I took a break from school to travel a little. Came here and just couldn't leave." He raised an eyebrow at my response. It didn't really fit, but that was the closest to the truth I could get.  
The elevator dinged at my floor and I let a breath I didn't realize I had been holding out. Han raised one dark eyebrow at me as I all but scurried out of the elevator.

It probably doesn't make a lot of sense why I magically got so nervous. But most people haven't seen the parts of Tokyo I have. My deal with Kamata was that he let my gambling-addict uncle live, and I give him part of the money I make driving for him. If I asked for help or tried to skip town, then he's still make his money off of me, but I'd be working as prostitute. After that threat, personal questions kind of scared me.

I led him down the carpeted hall to into my two bedroom apartment. Its last owner was the man whose job my dad was supposed to take. It wasn't much to look at really. It had no color in it; everything was painted grey with black modern furniture spread out across the dark mahogany floor. The back wall of my living room was floor to ceiling windows. That was the main feature of the place.

"If your dad's not a business man, what does he do?" Han asked as he started looking around.

"He past away three months ago, but he left me a few things." Han gave a thoughtful nod in response as he followed me into my bedroom where I put on some music to get rid of the silence.

-Boy did he ever leave me a few things.- I thought bitterly as I started flipping through shirts in my closet. I didn't have a lot of things. I hated shopping, so if I bought something, it was out of pure necessity.

"You really need some color in this place." Han remarked. I poked my head out of my closet to see him sprawled on my bed, which was also done in black and white.

"I wanted to paint this room red, but it's hard make it look right. That color shows every crooked brush stroke." I found a tank top that might be okay for the races and pulled it out.

Han hummed in response and started looking around some more. I quickly discarded the top in my hand and started to look for something else.

"What do they even wear at the races anyway?" I asked in frustration. I didn't have a decent shirt anywhere. I'd have to go shopping again.

"Not much. Have you really never gone?" I looked back to see him flipping through a cigar box filled with old pictures that I had tossed in a bag with a few other sentimental things before the Yakuza grabbed me. I sighed at his blatant nosiness.

"I have, but they were a lot different." I gave up on the shirts and went to look at dresses.  
"How different?"

"Well, they were drag races, of course." He nodded his head without looking up from a picture. "I was also in a small town, so it was just a big group of friends and a couple of others that came to race. The cars we had weren't nearly as expensive, and we didn't have the racer chasers or cliques that Tokyo does."

I gave up on the dresses and moved onto the few skirts I owned. I wasn't good at being girly, but every dress I owned was a sundress that looked like I was going to a garden party with the Queen. With my connections, I needed something a little more bad ass.

"Who's Camaro is this?" Han held up a picture of my black '69 Camaro. I was smiling clinging to my brother's back like a monkey beside it. I had obviously jumped off the hood to surprise him. He was in his Army uniform and was laughing at my stunt.

"Mine. My quinceanera present. " I finally found a cut off denim skirt that would work. I went back to flipping through the limited selection of tops.

"Who's the guy?"

"My brother, Brent. Our best friend took that right before Brent went to Afghanistan." Han looked at me with his dark eyes and closed the box and set it back where it was.

"Find something?" He asked as he slid off my comforter.

"I can't find a shirt." I sighed in exasperation. Yep, this was definitely going to mean shopping. Han walked over and started looking at what I had, I slid off to the side to let him look.

"Why'd DK ask you to take me to the races?" I blurted as I started to shift my weight nervously. I should have been asking that from the beginning.

"He said something about not trusting you there alone. " He glanced at me before pulling out a black shirt. " I assumed you were some new guy that was working for him that just got off the plane."

"Not quite" I muttered with a raised eyebrow.

"Why doesn't he trust you anyway?" He found a black tank that had lace on the back and handed to me.

"I have a habit of hotwiring things." I said blankly. And it scares him because I work for the real Yakuza.

"I never would have guessed that one, kid" Han said with a chuckle.

"My unlikely-ness is my alibi" I joked with a smile. "I'm gonna take a quick shower. How much time I got?"

"You have a while." Han said as he stretched and walked back over to my bed. I couldn't help but be a little distracted by how built he looked. "Take your time."

Even though he said I had time, I hurried through my shower. I hated to leave someone I didn't know unsupervised in my house. I wrapped a towel around myself and started on my makeup in the mirror. I was really a little plain. The only thing that made me stand out was my huge brown cow eyes. I actually spent a lot of time with my eyeliner are dark shadow. I just brushed my hair out so it would dry straight.

I checked the time on my phone to see that twenty five minutes had passed. --I can't believe I let him wander around for that long. I gotta remember to see if he stole anything.-- 

I threw everything on and started to look for Han. I found him in the hall with a drink in his hand looking at a picture of my brother. His folded flag was sitting on a table underneath it.

"He was there six months. Roadside bomb." Han turned to look at me.

"How close were their deaths?"

"A month." I pushed past him into the kitchen to start working on supper.

"I'm sorry. Is that why you left?"

"Yeah. In a small town people never let you forget. All I needed was to get away for a while." That was the actually the only thing I said that night that wasn't a lie. I just wish my way out had been a little different.

Z  
Three hours later and I was standing in front of my Mazda doing last minute checks. Han had brought me back to my garage to get my car and then showed me the way to the parking garage. I wasn't prepared for amount of people and cars crammed into the building.

I was glad I let Han pick out what I had on. I hated the short skirt and lace back tank but at least I fit in a little bit. He also made me wear the only pair of heels I had, which were five inch stilettos. I had gotten them in case I ever had to wear them to a Yakuza party, but they had never been out of the box. I was a little ticked off over that one.

"I've been looking for you. I hoped you wouldn't be alone." DK walked up beside me.

"I've been good." I retorted.

"Have you seen anything you liked?"

"You want the Rx-8 back." It finally hit me. I was about to win my own car. I hated to part with the Mazda after I had put so much work into rebuilding it, but at least I would own the car I won. Not owing him anything would be great, but it stung that I had done all that work for nothing.

"I had a race set up for a Z. The driver's good, but that shouldn't be an issue for you."

"I want a Corvette or a newer Rx-8." I spat a little to forcefully. The fact he was taking the car back without warning pissed me off.

"Of course you do." He rolled his eyes. I spent six months in Juvie because I stole a Corvette from a businessman in Atlanta. At least I chose someone who could afford it. "I'm glad I sent Han. You look almost presentable." He sneered before stalking away to set up the race.

At least I'm not dressed like I'm about to go dancing at a gay bar. I mentally sneered back. No straight man wore shirts as tight as his. Or wore that much Dolce and Gabbana.

I turned back to my car just in time to see Han across the level. He was swarmed by tall, skinny women that had to be models. A black guy in a baggy sweat shirt and do-rag was standing nearby selling a pair of shoes to one of the women and talking to Han. He caught my eye and gave me a little wink and a smirk. I nodded back and quickly dove back under the hood to hide my blush.

Z

Half an hour later DK walked up to my window with his faithful dog in tow. I had been done with the Mazda was sitting on the hood people watching when he came and got me for the race. His flat face was entirely too close to me as he fixed my safety harness that had gotten tangled when I tried to fix it with nervous fingers.

"It's just around the top levels of the garage. You win, you keep it." He said simply before pulling himself out of the car and going to stand by Neela. She gave me a small, encouraging smile. I intentionally didn't look to see what Morimoto did.

I checked out the car beside me. It was a sleek black with neon green streaked through it. I could tell from the engine sound that it had way more than stock under the hood and it would come down to the drifting. The skinny Japanese guy driving had a smug look that said he thought he had already won.

I smirked to myself as the butterflies started doing flips in my stomach. The girl that was going to start the race stepped between us. I felt the adrenaline build as she pointed to the two equally under dressed skanks on either side. All nervousness left as I excitedly waited for her hands to drop.

The second they did I was off. I felt my organs rearrange from the initial force of the engine pushing me backwards. The first turn came up quick, but I was ready. I swung myself around it smoothly and started to accelerate towards the next one.

Every stressed thought I had had been left at the starting line. I didn't even have to think as I moved through the levels. This was the way racing was supposed to be; just me and the car, kicking the other dude's ass. My opponent was actually a lot better than I thought and was even ahead of me at one point. I ended that quickly by aggressively drifted beside him until he messed up enough for me to pass.

All too soon I was drifting the ramp and it was over. I pulled in front of the cheering crowd and let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. The race really cleared my head and for once I felt happy.  
I stepped out with a huge grin on my face only to get bear hugged by a screaming Morimoto. Neela gave me a quick hug and a congratulations, then DK stepped up.

"Good job. I was told to tell you that you have a week off to make adjustments" He leaned down to whisper in my ear so close it probably looked like he was kissing me. He pulled back and I was surprised to see him actually smiling instead of his notorious smirk.

I grabbed my phone and walked over to take the keys to my new ride. I was getting jostled by the crowd as they cheered and congratulated me. I happened to catch a good look at Han's smirk as he stood beside the black guy who looked a little stunned. He gave me a nod that showed his approval. I didn't think it was possible, but my smile got just a little wider.


	3. Chapter 3

3

"But from each crime are born bullets that will one day seek out in you where the heart lies."  
Pablo Neruda

Z  
The high from my first win in Tokyo took forever to fade. Every night I dreamed about taking the turns in the parking garage before flying up the ramp to take my spot in front of the cheering crowd; it was a nice change from the usual things that haunted my dreams at night. I spent the next few days fixing up my new car until it was fast enough to outrun anything that challenged me and smooth enough in the curves to handle my aggressive drifting style.

My fabulous mood even lasted through a Saturday long shopping trip that I had dragged Neela on. While she was a little more girly then me, she was still a tomboy who hated shopping. After she helped me pick out a few race outfits, she left me to do the rest. By the time I had finally plopped down at a table outside a little restaurant for an extremely late lunch and early supper I was starving. I ordered the safest sounding thing on the menu and started picking at it with chopsticks.

"Shorty, you look like a girl with a whole lot of class. I can hook you up. You like Michael Jordan? I-" A voice started babbling out a sales pitch as I tried to maneuver a piece of chicken off my chopstick and into my mouth.

"I'm not interested." I snapped as I dropped the chicken onto my new sweater. I looked up in annoyance to see the guy from the races that was talking to Han. The way his expression changed I knew he remembered me too. He dropped down into the seat across from me.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Twinkie." He extended his hand for me to shake as I blushed darkly at my rudeness.

"Eliana, but everyone calls me Ellie." I shook his hand with a small smile.

"New to Tokyo?" He asked, gesturing at my chopsticks.

"Yeah, I still haven't gotten the hang of these, or gotten used to the food." I scrunched my nose as I poked some type of vegetable that looked completely inedible.

"Yeah, it's a little different."

I fell into an easy conversation with Twinkie. He kept me laughing the whole time. By the time it had gotten dark, I was completely up to date on all the Underground gossip, knew who the top racers were and their rides, and anything else I ever needed to know. Since all of my friends were back in the States, I hadn't had a good conversation like this in a long, long time.

"So where you from?" He asked me between bites of the greasy looking fish he had ordered when he realized that he was going to be there a while.

"I'm from San Juan, Puerto Rico, but when my mom died I moved with my dad to Talladega, Alabama and then to Rock Hill, Arizona."

"That is a random set a places." Twinkie remarked through a mouthful of noodles.

"It really is."

"How'd you wind up here with DK and his little group? You're a good racer, but you do not fit in with his crew of a-holes." I looked down at the table for a long second as I felt his eyes boring into me.

"I really don't know. After my dad died I just kinda took a break and left for a while. I came here and couldn't leave. I met DK, he had a nice car, I didn't know the scene around here, so I just hung with him." Twinkie smiled comfortingly and nodded at my choppy explanation.

"Are you two-anything?" He asked slowly.

"Oh, no. No." I gave a mixed snort chuckle at the thought." I don't date egotistical wangsters who look like they've been bashed in the face with a frying pan." Twinkie laughed.

"Sorry. I was just wondering after he was all over you." He gave me a look that said he was wondering exactly why he was.

"I like to steal things and he was not about to leave me alone." I answered simply. Twinkie's eyebrows shot up as he gave me a quick once-over. I didn't look like the criminal type in my new girly black sweater over skin tight skinnies with the over-the-knee black boots that Neela made me get, but my arrest for stealing a Corvette in Atlanta and my habit of pick pocketing in San Juan said otherwise.

"Well, that explains the driving, but-"

"I know; I don't look like much." I cut in with a smirk. I got away with just about everything because I didn't look like I was capable of breaking the law.

"Musta been one tough crew you ran with. You don't look the typical good-girl-gone-bad type." He joked as he gestured to me with his greasy chopsticks.

"Not quite and I'm not. It's kind of a family business."

"One awesome dad." Twink remarked.

"Actually, yeah. I picked up most of my driving skills from him and his friends that are pretty much family members." I felt my face turn dark red as the words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them. Oops. That was entirely too much information.

"Sounds like us at Han's. Did you have anyone else besides your dad and family friends?" I couldn't tell if he was trying to change the subject because I was obviously squirming uncomfortably or what, but I wasn't going to complain that he gave me a way out of that part of the conversation.

"I had a brother, and a friend that was like a brother. When my brother went to Afghanistan, the friend took his spot, kinda." I shrugged. "I don't have either of them now." I remarked sadly.

"The friend?" Twinkie smiled kindly at me filling in what had happened to Brent.

I stared at the bottom of my cup of green teas. It took me a while to look up to answer. "Okay, so our family was really tight knit, ya know. If we took you in, then you were completely in. But there's just some rules and promises that you just don't break."

Okay girl, just stop talking. You just told your life story to a guy you've never met. I started to open and close my mouth, fishing for the words that would stop this conversation and keep the personal things from spilling out.

"And up and moving to Tokyo is one of 'em. I get it." Twinkie offered to end my floundering.

"Yeah. Sorry, I haven't talked to someone like this in a long time." I said weakly.

"It's cool. I think I know some people you got to meet. Our crew's a lot like that. You'd be a lot happier with us instead a DK and his monkey." Twinkie stood up and I followed him. He grabbed my many bags and gestured for me to show him   
the way to my car.

He fell into step beside me as he started happily describing Han's garage and crew. I still felt uncomfortable after unloading my entire story on somebody I'd just met. I couldn't help it though; Twinkie was just one of those open, kind people that made everyone comfortable around him. I haven't been around someone like that in a long time.

"You really need to stay away from DK. Ya know his uncle is like the head of Yakuza." He told me bluntly as we made our way down the crowded side walk to where my car was conspicuously parked.

"I know." I spoke softly with a grimace. Twinkie's eyes started to widen. "Everyone knows. That's his ticket to fame. I don't care how good he is, no one would look at him if it weren't for his uncle." I finished with a flourished eye roll. I don't think I distracted him.

"You're probably right." He started to put everything in my car for me. "Are you going to follow me or do you just want directions?" I opened my mouth to answer but my phone rang.

"Maybe later Twink. I have to be somewhere. But here-" I reached for his phone which he handed me. I put in my number as quickly as possible. "I'll come by some other time. Besides, I think I don't think I'm dressed for a Tokyo party."

"Alright, shorty. I'll holla at you tomorrow."

Z

When I answered the phone after saying my goodbyes to Twinkie, I had been given an hour to be at a disreputable and run down area on the other side of Tokyo. After dropping off my bags, I picked up one of Kamata's boys and winded my way through back streets that had a post-apocalyptic ghost town feel until I got to a rotting, Yakuza-owned warehouse.

The air was freezing cold inside the warehouse, but I think it was the suck-the-life-out-of-you part of town we were in that was so chilling.

The homeless where wrapped up in jackets and shabby blankets and leaning on buildings with a hollow, hopeless expression that looked permanently etched on their faces. The women strolling down the street in heels and skin tight clothes on probably would have had the same expression if their faces weren't practically painted on. The worse thing I saw was the addicts; they reminded me so much of my mom.

They kept me waiting for the shipment. I spent most of my time leaning back against the front fender watching the small group of men move around in the office type room through the open door. The Yakuza babysitting me had taken my keys and was sitting in a chair beside the door so he could keep an eye on me.

As I waited, an uneasiness set in down in the pit of my stomach. The people around me looked so out of place against the back drop of the poorest part of the city; they were dressed in expensive clothes and I kept seeing the flash of a Rolex face under the light when someone's sleeve would move. It made me sick to think that while they were huddling around a table probably covered in money while the people on the streets looked like they were starving.

One of the men turned away from the table with a bag in his hand. He wordlessly handed it off to my Yakuza babysitter. He stood out of his chair before slinging the bag over his shoulder and tossing the keys to me in a fluid motion. They bounced off my stomach as struggled to catch them.

As I felt my lip curl in disgust at the well-dressed men in the office, it suddenly dawned on me; I was working for them, and that made me just as bad as they were. The uneasiness in my stomach got worse as the guilt set in. I had always felt like a victim, and to an extent I was, but I had a nice two bedroom apartment, a garage, and more money stashed than I would ever spend. I wasn't exactly suffering, but these people were, and for all I knew, I was helping the ones responsible for that.

I was suddenly brought back to earth by the Yakuza tapping on the trunk for me to unlock it. With shaking fingers, I adjusted my keys and hit the trunk button. As I sick as I felt because of this realization, I knew there was nothing I could do to change it.

Z

I killed the engine the second I put the Mazda in park. It had not been a smooth trip. My fingernails were digging into the steering wheel because of my white knuckled grip which I just couldn't loosen. I glanced at the Yakuza next to me to see him pale and hyperventilating slightly. He opened his door and shakily stepped out. I finally relaxed my grip and popped the trunk so he could retrieve the duffel bag full of-whatever it was full of. I never really asked. I got out slowly and leaned on my door to wait for whoever was getting the shipment.

For some reason, the cops had decided to have a raid. They usually wouldn't dare show up in that side of town and for good reason. Half the cops in this town were owned by somebody. The other half were way too afraid to try anything to make a dent in the crime rate.

A black Mercedes pulled up about twenty feet away from us and Kamata's top officers started filing out. I was already shivering from my lack of a coat, but I felt a little chill go down my spine that had nothing to do with the cold as one of them glanced at me before opening the door for Kamata.

Of all the people I've ever had to work with, Kamata was by far the most terrifying. He gave off an aura of complete control and authority that was unmatched. He was so intimidating that it was just an unconscious response to shrink back a little when he walked by, to pay attention when he spoke, or to want to run the second he started walking towards you.

I felt myself pale slightly when he stepped out. He was always dressed in an expensive handmade suit with a long coat on and matching hat. Today was no exception. He pulled a cigar out of his pocket and lit it as he surveyed the damage on my Mazda. He walked towards my back bumper and ran his hand over a groove in the side that hadn't been there before the run. He nodded at one of his men to transfer the bag into the trunk of the Mercedes.

"Walk with me." Kamata said simply as he started slowly down the waterfront. His voice gave me the creeps. It was gravelly from years of smoking and drinking and I could barely understand him because of his accent.  
I felt myself go completely white as I dragged my feet behind him. He glanced back to see what was taking so long and I reluctantly sped up enough to be beside him.

"You're every bit as good as they said you were, though not nearly the hand full I thought you were going to be." He took another puff on the cigar as he looked out at the ocean. Oh, how I hated that smell. He pulled a wad of money out of his inside pocket, pulled one bill of the top and handed it the rest to me. This was how he always did: the single bill went to my uncle's debt, and the rest went to me. I took it wordlessly and pocketed my pay.

"I think I have another job that would be perfect for you." He continued with a small glance at my stony face to gauge my reaction. "I need some cars boosted and moved into Hong Kong. I will give you the details later." He started to leave, but thought for a second and turned. "Drop your car by my nephew's. He will repair it for you."

I watched him walk back to his car and get in with his boys. They left me alone on the waterfront. I let out a sigh of relief that all of this was over. I used to be happy behind the wheel, but now it was way out of hand. I used to love the way the car moved for me when I finally got everything right. The way it felt to hit the accelerator and leave every thought of the day behind. Now I just felt ashamed of myself. Now I was just helping put drugs in the hands of addicts; money in the hands of people who didn't deserve it. I made me sick.

Z

An hour later I was pulling into the back of the mini casino-ish building that DK had taken up shop in. The bouncer let me without question. I walked in to find Morimoto on the couch with some girl who was either a racer-chaser or a prostitute, DK spread out in his desk chair with two girls around him, and the rest of his crew playing a game that I always thought was Japanese dominoes. The girls with the weird spiked hair and white eye shadow that absolutely couldn't stand attempted to greet me, but were ignored.

"You look nice." DK commented as he looked me up and down. "Big plans tonight?"

"Nope. I have something I need help with" I answered shortly. I was way too tired to come up with a witty response to any of his comments.

"Oh?" He asked mockingly as he leaned further back in his chair. "I can't think of anything you would need."

"I need some body work done on the Mazda and I was told to leave it for you." His eyebrows went up. I mouthed uncle at him and he nodded in understanding. "It was nothing I couldn't have fixed, but you were recommended."

"Leave it out back. I'll call you when it's done." I just nodded. I felt so drained. I turned and smacked straight into someone's broad chest. I looked up to see Han smiling at me.

"Well, hello." He joked.

"Sorry." I mumbled before stepping around him. I was almost out the door when DK called me back in. He shooed everyone else out and had Morimoto get me a drink. Han had made himself comfortable in one of the recently vacated chairs with a glass of what I thought was scotch. I joined him quietly.

"How much work needs to be done?" DK asked me as he extended his hand towards Han who put an envelope that probably held money in it. Han shot me a curious glance. He obviously missed that part.

"Good bit." I answered tiredly.

"Don't tell me the princess of drug running had trouble. Maybe she wasn't as good as Daddy said she was." Morimoto joked in Japanese. He couldn't seem to process the fact that I understood him. Han's eyebrows went up. I was too tired to answer so I shrugged and sipped my green tea.

"How long do you think it will take?" DK shoved the money into a drawer after he counted it and came to sit with us.

"New rear quarter panel-left, I think- and possibly a new back bumper. There was a little more heat than usual." I said bitterly. Stupid cops.

"Fine. I'll get it fixed."

"Thanks. See you later." I got up tiredly and made my way towards the door. I felt so drained after the run.

I had retrieved my purse and was already down the next street when someone grabbed my arm. I eeked and jerked around see it was just Han.

"I'll take you home. You shouldn't be alone on this side of town." He said kindly.

"Didn't you hear?" He raised an eyebrow at my bitter question. "I'm Yakuza. No one will mess with me." I felt myself tear up a little. Oh, great. I've been holding all of this in for three months and it all spills out in front of the hot one. Just, great. I bet I look like I'm psychotic right now.

He ignored me, threw a long arm over my shoulders and started dragging me back towards his Silvia across the street. "Kid, I know just what will cheer you up."

"A rewind button on my life?" He chuckled.

"You been drifting in the mountains yet?"


	4. Exile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taking so long to update. I'm trying to edit and add more to the original story. I'd like to write all of my one shots into the story in order like they should be. 
> 
> Also if you know me from fanfiction---- I thought I had a security breach, but after a whole bunch of password changes, I am going to repost there.

4

"And one by one the nights between our separated cities are joined to the night that unites us."  
Pablo Neruda

Z

The lights of the city fell behind us as Han took us towards the outskirts of town. The road started to get steeper, and before I knew it we were shooting up the side of the mountain just outside the city. The way he calmly and smoothly handled the corners without even acknowledging I was in the car was strangely comforting to me; he was a nice change from DK's usual goons that were constantly fluffing their own egos as they over aggressively attacked the corners because they thought it would show off their driving skills. Really, it made them sloppy; Han had yet to make a move that lacked precision, no matter what the speed.

Just as I was getting completely relaxed around him, he got to the last curve. He pulled off to the side where the road overlooked the city and killed the engine. I should have known the silence was too good to be true.

"How old are you?" He asked quietly. I raised an eyebrow. I hadn't really expected him to start with that; most people wanted to know why I was running drugs and working on cars instead of doing something feminine. Good old fashion Yakuza sexism.

"Sixteen." His stupidly attractive dark eyes started boring into the side of my head as I looked for somewhere to look besides him.

" How-?" I cut him off. I wasn't in the mood for questions, so I might as well go ahead and tell him everything.

"My dad used to street race, boost cars, run drugs, and he was the best. He retired but his brother didn't and got himself in trouble with a Yakuza loan shark over a massive gambling debt. My dad made a deal with the devil to save his sorry ass and died before he carried out his part." It all tumbled out forcefully. I sighed heavily.

"I was approached by one of Kamata's guys at the funeral and he told me about the deal. He told me he would take me to Tokyo after it was over one way or the other." I paused and swallowed. "I tried to run, because that's what I do-what I'm good at; running away from problems. I realized he’d dropped something into my coffee a little later while later."

"I was almost gone." I continued after a pause. "I made it to the house and had a bag packed when they caught up with me. I briefly remember trying to break some guy's neck, and swinging a tire iron, but next thing I know I'm face first on a car window in Tokyo with part of a sleeve in my mouth."

I was feeling the first tears starting to slip at the end. I snuck a look at Han to see if he was freaked out at my melt down. Instead he was chuckling at the image of me taking on some big mafia hit men.

"You're the second person I have unloaded all that on today. If I keep this up, everyone in Tokyo's going to know." I said as I feeble half attempted at a lighter conversation topic.

"Who was the first?"

"Twinkie" He turned to look at me with a smile.

"Shoulda known. He wanted to know all about you after that race." I felt the corners of my mouth pull up. It was then that I remembered that a low profile was the best option for someone in my situation and nosy friend might be worse than no friend. I pursed my lips to hide the fact that they held a tiny smile.

"Is he always that friendly?" I forced my face back to neutral and asked disdainfully.

"He's worse in the mornings." He reached to wipe a stray tear that hadn't fallen yet. I had to admit that it felt good to have a little bit of contact like that from another person; I hadn't voluntarily let someone that close to me the entire time I had been in Japan. There was a comfortable silence as we both took a second to process everything that had been said. A few more tears started slipping when my thoughts centered on my dad and how much I missed him.

"Why hasn't anyone tried to stop this?" The silence was broken by his whispered question.

"My family is made up of people like my dad. I was either told that they couldn’t get me back, or that they were going to try to find me. Either way, I never heard from them again past the first email. I made one phone call from a pay phone when I was sure they weren’t tracking me to my brother back home. He accused me of following in my dad’s footsteps.” Finally deciding I'd broken down enough in front of him, I wiped the last tears away with the heel of my hand and sniffed as quietly as possible.

"What's kept you from catching the first train out?" He asked in a slightly arrogant way. I felt a slight jolt of anger in my chest. It wasn’t that easy. How could he not understand that?

"I don't have a choice! It's not as simple as-" I began indignantly.

"Life's simple kid. You always have a choice; you just make your's and you don't look back. You don't get anywhere in this life letting fear lead you." A glint of light caught his face as he leaned closer to me.

"There might always be a choice, but there's also always a consequence."

Z

The next day was as dark and gloomy as my mood was the night before. Big grey clouds threatened rain above my head as I threaded my way through the crowd with a grocery bags firmly tucked at my side. With it being rush hour, there was absolutely no point in driving. The cars were bumper to bumper and hadn’t moved much since I’d left the store. The sidewalks were just as crowded with people in school uniforms and business suits trying to get home. 

I felt stressed being in the crowds. Without meaning to, people were bumping me and getting extremely close. I wasn’t really surprised when one elderly man trying to balance a cup of tea and his brief case as he answered his phone accidentally collided with my shoulder and sent my groceries flying. 

I dropped to my knees and frantically started scooping the contents of my supper into the bag before they got trampled

“I’m so sorry.” He exclaimed rapidly in Japanese. I could barely understand what he was saying. He bent down to help me pick it up, but another man stepped in and dismissed him with a very curt nod. He was sharply dressed in a well-tailored gray suit with a hand full of rings. When he reached to snag a wayward tomato that was about to be smushed I noticed the edge of a wave peeking out of his sleeve. 

“Hey yo, shorty! You need help getting home?” A voice yelled out above the crowd. I glanced up to see Twinkie jogging over with a backpack. I wasn’t sure what he was doing over here, but I knew it wasn’t his section of town. 

“This gentleman got it. Thank you though.” I said quickly as finished stuffing everything back in the bags.

Without waiting for a response, I grabbed the Yakuza’s wrist to haul myself up and left without saying another word. I peeked back once to the man wordlessly stare down Twinkie before he followed after me.   
I was hoping to hide it, but I could tell by the look on his face Twinkie knew I was a hell of a lot more than one of DK’s followers. 

Z

"Ellie. Ellie? Ellie!" A masculine voice pulled me out of a deep sleep. When my bleary vision started to clear a little I was staring at the undercarriage of my newest win. I pushed myself out from under the car to see Han looking down at me with a grin and a bag of gummy worms in his hand. His hair was haloed out around his face in weird way because the way he leaned over me.

"Rough night?" His grin got wider. It occurred to me somewhere in my deeply tired brain that he probably thought I was hung over.

"I stole six cars then ran eight duffel bags of coke and money, and whatever else. What do you think?" I muttered sleepily as I rubbed my eyes. His grin deflated a little as he grabbed my arm and started to haul me to my feet.

"Come on. I brought lunch." He waved the bag of gummy worms under my nose and pulled me towards the couch.

"You shouldn't support my sugar addiction." I joked at him as curled up against the arm of the couch with a yawn.

The day after he saw me being stalked by a Yakuza, the ever-so-fearless Twinkie dragged me into his garage and introduced me to his crew. I had to admit, I loved Han's garage more than I did my own. It was huge, filled with drifting cars that could wipe the floor with most of the competitors in the Underground, and the people there were the closest to friends I could get in Tokyo.

I began spending so much time with them, I was pretty much known as part of Han's crew. It felt good to be around people who knew the truth and didn't throw it in my face, or try to use me to get with the gangster guys like the weird chicks. Probably a good thing considering the number of hearts they'd break if they left their usual entourage of models.

During the month that had passed since I met Twinkie, he had really grown on me. He was always a reliable source of information about other people, but when I made it clear I wanted to remain unnoticed, he tried to keep my name out of the Underground's rumor mill. He was fun, happy, and carefree; I desperately needed someone like that around me after everything that had happened in my life in such a short time.

It turned out that I also needed someone like Han. Since he had a better understanding of the situation I was in, he was nice to talk to when things weren't going well. He had also been trying to get me gain back the weight I had lost in my time in Tokyo from food poisoning, stress, and being too busy to stop and eat. This led to me spending a lot of evenings eating take out with Earl, Reiko, and Twinkie at a table in his loft. When I had the time, of course.  
The number of jobs I had done for Kamata had picked up considerably after he decided I was reliable. My phone started ringing at all hours of the day as opposed to just during the night. At first I thought that if he was making me do day runs than I was getting a few of the nights off to finally get some rest, but I quickly realized that he was only going to let me get enough sleep to stay sharp behind the wheel. I also wondered if this was because he wanted more control over me because I had left his nephew's group for Han's, or if he had always had that much work planned for me.

"If you don't start eating, I'm going to finish the bag." He rattled the plastic in my direction. I grabbed a handful. "I don't get why you’re so tired lately. You were up for almost three straight days last week and you were perkier than this."

"I've been having nightmares." I said as I stretched on my side over the arm of the couch. I let my fingertips brush over the cleanly swept concrete floor. "I'm always running from something. I never know what. It always ends with headlights." I started to stretch my legs and managed to knock a book off my coffee table. Han grabbed it and started flipping. I snatched the gummy worms from beside his leg while he was distracted. The man ate munchies like he had a tape worm, and I knew he wasn't joking about finishing the bag for me.

"It's entirely in Spanish." He said with amusement as he flipped until he found the most worn page book marked by a ripped out, creased car magazine article.

"I am Latina." I quipped as I chewed. It came out a little bit muffled.

"You boost cars, run drugs for the Yakuza, and read Puerto Rican poetry. You're one complicated kid." He chuckled as he ran his fingers over the abused page of my favorite poem.

"Chilean. Pablo Neruda was the poet laureate of Chili." He gave me a weird look as he started laughing harder. "Give me that." I snatched the book and sat cross legged beside him. I read it slowly and clearly in Spanish, before translating it to English the second time through.

"Exile is round is shape. A circle, a ring. Your feet go in circles you cross land. And it's not your land. Light wakes you up, and it's not your light. Night comes down, but your stars are missing. You discover brothers, but they're not of your blood." My voice trailed off at the end. I chewed on my lip as I thought of my family members in Puerto Rico and my goofy friends back in Arizona.

"You really are home sick aren't you kid?" He asked. I frowned and slowly closed the book.

"Of course. I used to read this all the time after I left Puerto Rico. It always makes me think of home." I responded.

"You've always got a home with us." He drawled casually after a long awkward silence.

"Tokyo might not be so bad then." I said quietly with a little smile. Han brushed the hair out my eyes. My face burned bright red and I felt my eyes get huge. All he did was smile.

Z

After hours of hard work after Han brought me my highly nutritious lunch, I was almost done with my newest prize-- a 370 Z that was almost completely stock. I spared a glance at the clock to find that it was near midnight and groaned. I really needed some sleep.

I was tightening the last bolt when my phone rang. I snorted in annoyance and fumbled to get it from its place in my back pocket without removing my head from under the hood.

"Hello." I answered politely when I finally got the little bugger open. I was mentally cursing the person on the other end with a fiery passion for interrupting my work, but snapping at the local mob boss just wasn't a good idea.

"Miss Gonzalez. You're needed in an hour. Same place as before." A gravelly, smoker's voice demanded before line went dead with a click.

Cursing, I dropped to my knees, put my face down, and hit the front bumper with my fist. What more did he want from me? I was at the end of my rope; too exhausted to spend another night running across Japan.

The music coming from my iPod speakers skipped, signaling an email coming in off the neighbor’s wifi. Grudgingly, I drug myself off the floor and grabbed my iPod off its dock. Of my three new emails, two were from friends back home. They both featured a picture of a familiar cream Monte Carlo and a red Viper races through a half built neighborhood. One even included a video that I didn't have time to watch.

What has that boy done now? I thought to myself as I checked the last email. It was from Ms. Boswell.

I don't know where you are, or why you suddenly decided to vanish, or if you're even still out there, but I need help. I just sent Sean to Tokyo with his dad because he was racing. He'll be there on the seventh. Wherever you are, keep my boy out of trouble. 

I felt a strange emptiness as reread her words and then told the emails to show as unread.

Sean was like my second brother. His friendship with Brent and his love of cars made him a permanent fixture in our house. He had always been there for me and I had always been there for him, even after we moved to different states. That was until I called him after I got taken to Tokyo. The phone called ended with a lot of name calling a warning to not call again until I could stop pathologically lying to cover my cowardice. I knew he was lashing out because he was angry about Brent and dad, but that still hurt me to the core.

I had lost so much in so little time; I didn't think I could handle a conversation like that face to face. He was all I had left, and he had shut me out.

I dropped my iPod back on its stand and turned back to my now finished Z, trying to pretend that I wasn't crying.


	5. Chapter 5

5

"I believe that everything happens for a reason: people change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so you can appreciate them when they're right, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."  
Marilyn Monroe

Z

The seventh came and went without a word from the Boswells. The only piece of news I got from anyone was another email of the race video from one of my Arizona friends. I couldn't help but feel just a little bit proud of him; I had actually picked the Viper to win in the beginning. That little ounce of pride went away pretty quickly when one of the weird chicks that was always hanging off of Morimoto shoved her cell phone under my nose with the video of Sean in the Silvia racing DK. I didn't have time to watch it, but I did see the Silvia crunched at the finish line.

I had managed to sweet talk Han into letting me drive her just once. It was beautifully powerful machine that had no equal in the Underground. Han swore he wasn’t a racer, and that might be a little bit true, but he was one hell of a mechanic. I was praying that beautiful engine survived the damage. 

It was a week later when Twink called me to come in and meet the new guy, which I absolutely couldn't refuse; mostly because Twink was a pro at guilt tripping me. Knowing I couldn’t refuse Twinkie because he’d eventually find another way to drag me there, I ended up in the desolately empty parking lot in from of Han's club half an hour before Twinkie and Sean were due home. The only other car was an orange and black Rx-7 Veilslide that I knew was Han's from my occasional visits to the garage.

Seeing Sean was a bad idea. 

He loved my dad and brother as much as I did. He was hurting just as much as I was. From our one phone call since my dad’s funeral, I knew he felt abandoned and thrown away. He thought I chose to run away because he didn’t think my uncle would ever let me pay his debt to the Yakuza for him. 

He was wrong, of course. From what I heard, he showed up down Kamata’s street with my picture and a glowing recommendation of my driving skills the day my dad died. Apparently the fact that I could clean up enough to be a pretty stripper in a sex club was also a major selling point of his. I strongly suspected drugs had become an issue for him if he desperate enough to make me pay his debt instead of facing it himself. 

Since I knew facing Sean would cause a huge scene and a whole lot of hurt, I had everything planned out perfectly: I would get there early, talk to Alden, Jimmy, and anyone else floating around the garage, then pretend I had somewhere to be and go out the front while Sean came in the back. I took a few steadying breaths, trying to banish the thoughts of Sean finding out I was there.

Was I a coward for avoiding him? Probably. Was I protecting the little bit of my heart was unbroken ? Hell yes. Sean was one heck of a grudge holder and I had one heck of a temper if you got me going.

I got out of my car and speed walked through the building until I got to the garage portion. Alden waved at me from his place on the couch where he was killing Jimmy at some type of shooting game. I joined them for a second before Nozomi, Han's current fling, walked up to give me a hug.

She was very sweet and beautiful. I didn't like her a little because I still had a crush on Han, but I couldn't really hate her exactly.

"Haven't seen you in a while" She commented in Japanese.

"Busy" I managed to stutter out. I could understand a lot of Japanese, but I hated to speak it.

"You seen what the new guy did to the Silvia?" Alden asked over his shoulder while absolutely slaughtering Jimmy. Jimmy just needed to give up.

"One of DK's people had a picture." I sneered a little when I said DK's people.

"He's got some potential." Han wandered up the stairs in a grease stained, gray t-shirt wiping his hands on a rag. Everyone gave him the same exhausted look. Apparently Sean's practice session the other day didn't go to well.

"Hey Ellie, I've got an electrical problem with that old Supra over there." He pointed at something that was obnoxiously neon blue. "Give me a hand." He turned and walked away before I had a chance to answer.

"Put me to work why don't you." I joked as I followed him to the other side of the garage where he was waiting. I tried not to panic as I leaned down under the hood. I had plenty of time to fix this and get the heck out of there.

"After you meet Sean, just stay here. There’s been some trouble with Kamata and a rival faction. It would be safer if you could get out of running for a while" Han whispered directly into my ear as he leaned over me when he pretended to reach for some wires. I felt my face turn a lovely shade of crimson as I took in a sharp breath. I think I squeaked out a "what" , but with Han this close to me it was hard to think.

"I can't not go, Han." I said as calmly as possible. Han moved like he was pointing something else out and rested his hand on my hip.

"Why do you do this to yourself anyway? The money's not worth it." He said. I felt my temper flare. Didn't he remember anything I told him?

"I was brought here because of my uncle and my dad. I stay and do whatever he tells me because I'm worse than dead if I don't. And no, I don't care about the money." I yanked his hand off of my hip and slid away from him. I was careful to keep my head down so the people in the loft didn't suspect we were about to be fighting. My blood was boiling at his arrogance.

"Is being someone's dog really worse than being dead?" He deadpanned. I furiously glanced up to meet his eyes.

"I used to think so. I've changed a bit since I lost everything." I said quietly as I straightened up and started to leave. I was stopped in my tracks when the Hulk mobile pulled into its spot . I frantically glanced around to see if Sean's Evo was in the garage. It was, which meant he rode with Twinkie. Crap.

I started looking for a way to avoid being seen kind of like a squirrel would look when trying to dodge a hawk; with lots of panicked twitchiness and eye darting. I heard Sean's laughter float through the garage after Twinkie said something that I couldn't make out. Sean's laughing? He was always miserable unless he was driving.

I finally made eye contact with Han who was watching my every move with complete interest. I started to make a few connections; he looked through my pictures, he knew I had an almost brother from Talladega, and he gave Sean of all people the keys.

"You knew?" I hissed. He shrugged.

Sean and Twinkie's voices kept getting louder. I just kept staring at Han in shock. I didn't really know what to feel. I was terrified of seeing Sean again and angry because trapping me under the hood of that toxic blue Supra so I had to was just plain cheating.

"Hey Han, where are we-" his question was left hanging in a heavy silence when finally he noticed me.

"Yo, Sean, I totally forgot. This is Ellie Gonzalez. She-"

"I know who she is. What are you doing here? If you’re here apologize, forget it." His angry twang cut Twinkie off. His green eyes were flashing with anger as he adopted a defensive stance.

"I think we need to talk somewhere else." I said as smoothly as I possibly could with a million butterflies eating my stomach lining. I decided I was angry at Han for ruining my escape attempt, so I shot him a dirty look as I made my way to the stairs.

"There's nothing else to talk about." He shot back. Twinkie's eyes kept darting between us as he tried to process what was going on. There was an uncomfortable silence in the loft as they paused the game and started to eavesdrop.

"I think we should take this somewhere else." I insisted as a glanced back from the stairs to look at him. He looked like he was about to explode. I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I should have run for the door when I had the chance.

"You leave me with alone with my mom after I lost the man I considered my father? You weren’t the only one hurting, but you had to run to Uncle Jorge like a whiny little bitch." Great. He was screaming.

"Seriously, Sean?" I almost shrieked as I turned around again. This is not the place for this. If I wouldn't be murdered by a thousand super models I would totally run Han over for putting me in this situation right now. I'm sure someone in Yakuza would bail me out. I thought bitterly. "I think you need to hear the whole story."

"I know the whole story. You ran. Just like you always do. It got tough, so you bailed and did something stupid. I guess this pays a little more than sneaking to Vegas with your hellion friends, huh?" He started clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides like he was trying to not start a fist fight. I felt completely numb and just stood there like a rag doll.

"I've grown up a little since then, Sean." I said quiet bitterness.

"Doubt that. Your still the same street rat, illegal that can't quit running. That's why the call you Speedy Gonzalez isn't it? You're always pulling all kinds of shit and then running away and acting like the victim. Ya know, I'm shocked you made it here. We all knew you were going to run, but we figured you wind up some cholo's baby mama in the barrio somewhere like your mama did."

Time slowed down. I felt a hot flare of anger that I hadn't felt in a long time flick up like a flame. My temper had been missing the whole time I was in Japan; it was like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on me. It felt good to finally thaw out.

My feet moved without me telling them to. Twinkie started to try to intervene, but I pushed past him and landed a hard, satisfying punch in Sean's gut. When he doubled over I kicked him in the back of the knees so he'd fall.  
I spun on my heels, jerked my head up at a proud angle, and prissed out with stunned stares and silence at my back. I deflated a little when I made it into the storage room. After the little flicker of fire had gone out, I was back to being numb. I leaned against the wall and let my head fall onto a shelf.

What the heck has happened to me? I used to be stubborn and actually have a personality. I just let him walk all over me and now I don't feel anything.

I felt another person's presence. I looked up to see Han staring at me from the doorway. I sighed and let myself slide down the wall, He joined me wordlessly. We sat like that for a long time, just not saying anything.

"He felt bad." Han's voice rumbled out of the silence. We looked at each other for a second before going back to staring in space. "He said you looked old and like you were dead inside.” 

"I've changed a bit since I got here. I used to not take any crap from anyone. Now, I just kind of-" I put my forehead on my knees and sighed. "I used to do things for the fun of it. When things got tough, I'd distract myself by test driving   
someone else's car or racing someone. Now that I have a gun to my head, there's just no point anymore. I feel like I'm on auto pilot"

"There's always a point." He said firmly. "Things change and sometimes they change you. Now you have a chance to fix it."

I watched his expressions from under my elbow. He looked sadder than I'd ever seen him. I never thought of Han having problems. He was almost never without a girl on each arm, or if he was, he was drinking or laughing with a group of people. He never wanted for money or cars, and a lot of people would kill to be part of his crew. Him looking upset over anything was a complete foreign concept.

But now he looked like a man that carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. His eyes looked ancient, like someone who’d seen way too much to early. Unconsciously trying to offer some show of comfort, I scooted a little closer. 

"I don't think it's a good idea for Sean to be around me." I blurted. Han quirked an eyebrow at me and turned to look at me as he rested his chin on his fist. His expression clearly told me he thought I'd lost it.

"You've always said 'who you're around tells you who you are'." I said slightly mockingly. " I'm surrounded by murderers. I don't want Sean around that. Remember when he told me all I did was run? They’ve labeled me as a flight risk; they keep tabs on me. I don't want them approaching Sean or something because he said hi to me on the street. You know how he picks fights- what in God's name are you snickering at?"  
I ended my rant with clenched teeth and a death glare. He laughed harder and threw his long arm around my shoulders and pulled me so my forehead was resting uncomfortably on his collar bone. I stiffened in annoyance.

"You are something kid."

"He's still family no matter how much we fight; he's mad because he got his feelings hurt. I was the only person he had and I was going to go live with him and his mom after everything so I could keep him out of trouble. When he thought I   
ran out on him it hurt." I muttered into Han's shirt. It was getting difficult to stay annoyed when I got a whiff of his cologne mixed with oil and the smell of his skin.

He loosened up on me so he could look me in the eyes. His brief look of sadness was replaced with smile.

"You're not like them, Ellie. Sean will get over all this. I have a feeling with you two back together, you'll be back to your normal fire ball self and Sean will get over some of his issues."

"How do you know I was a fire ball? I've felt like a ghost these past couple months." I asked with a half smirk.

"You jacked some lawyer's Corvette. You broke into an old airfield and turned it into a race track for your Camaro. You apparently throw some pretty wild Christmas parties at an old gas station with a lighted cactus in place of a tree. Anyone who does all that has to have a little sass."

"I gotta clean out those pictures." I stated to Han's amusement. I felt myself lean back comfortably onto Han's chest as I laughed with him. I really wanted to believe he was right about me and Sean. His little pep talk had lifted my mood considerably.

Han unconsciously moved his hand up to the side of my cheek while we were still chuckling. I moved to give him a confused look because he never did anything like that to me. He just smiled and leaned in closer. I felt my face get red hot as his lips met mine. My heart started to flutter wildly in my chest. I had been kissed before, but never like this.  
We stayed like that for a long time. We only broke apart when someone opened the door. Nozomi looked at both of us with a shocked look on her face.  
Okay, I'm sitting in the floor of a storage room with her boyfriend's arm wrapped around my shoulders and his face an inch from mine. There is no way this looks good.   
When no one reacted to her little stare down she lightly stomped her foot and put her hand on her hip. "Han, everyone already left to go to the docks. They thought you already left. You should catch up to them." Her bitchy tone grated on my nerves. I felt a little thrill of victory at her jealousy. I should feel bad about this. Oh, well.  
Han started to try to unfold his legs, which was awkward in the small corner he had crammed his tall self into. He slid his hand along my back as he stood up and offered me his hand.  
"Want to see Sean in action?" He asked with a smirk. Nozomi adopted the universal oh-no-you-didn't look from her spot by the door, which Han didn't see because he was only looking at me. I smirked smugly and was opening my mouth to say yes when my phone went off right on cue.  
"Remember what I said." He murmured and gave me a quick peck on the lips. He walked out towards the front without a glance at Nozomi who was obviously not invited.

"What the hell?" She shrieked in Japanese as I started digging for my phone in my jacket pocket.

"It was just a peck on the lips." I told her nonchalantly with a shrug. I flipped my phone open and walked out before I had to hear her reply.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Gonzalez," I didn't hear a word. I had a wide triumph grin that just couldn't be taken off.

Maybe Tokyo's not so bad.

AN: Hey guys. I know this is really annoying, but could you please review? The only reason I haven’t deleted my other account is that I’m sentimental and don’t want to lose all of the reviews people have written.   
Also please answer my question about my rewrite of Complications. I had both versions written, and I published the one where Han had a bad day instead of Ellie. I want to know which one you think you’d prefer.


	6. Chapter 6

6

"Life was tough, it could be dangerous, but it made sense. The problems it threw at you could be solved rationally."

Scott Westerfield

Z

There were always two things I could count on in the center of Tokyo; bright lights and swarms of people. The lights were always blinding and I was always being bumped and pulled like I was in a rip tide by people hurrying off to wherever they were going. But the further you got from Tokyo, the more that changed. The lights started to turn dim, and while there was still people, they were spread out. Not much was creepier then standing at the dark entrance to a side street totally alone.

One of the few things that creeped me out more than the back alleys was the Yakuza's office. It was down a dark side street on the back side of a couple of legitimate businesses. The buildings on either side were empty and boarded up. A single street lamp illuminated the dingy door with peeling paint. The rest had been allowed to go out.

I pulled on my jacket as I walked down the tiny corridor of a street. I shivered slightly and it had nothing to do with the cold. The happy, warm and fuzzy feeling I had from making out with Han had disappeared and I was left feeling like I had ice water in my veins. I was forcing my feet to keep moving as I watched for any sign of a person. This alley looked like a perfect place for someone like Jack the Ripper to hide.

A guard beside the door who was shaded by the light from behind him tossed away a still glowing cigarette and stood up from his leaning position on the wall. I made it almost to him when he opened the door for me and stepped aside. I nodded at him wordlessly as I stepped inside.

The inside was just as bad as the outside. It had a bare wood floor and was almost devoid of any furniture except for a beaten old couch and a table. The whole place smelled like cigars, old money, and alcohol. I moved through the first room, which was obviously once the waiting room for an office, and through a side door which took me through a creepy hallway into Kamata's office.

This was a satellite office. The main office of the faction was absolutely beautiful with polished wood floors and expensive furnishings. There was a sign on the door loudly proclaiming it to be a Yakuza building. I had been there very few times. The sketchiest part of Kamata's drug trade was a shadow operation, so it wasn't exactly done in the light.

Kamata's office was relatively nice compared to the rest of the building. His desk was very old and ornately carved. A few other antique pieces of furniture were spread throughout the room with various decorations on top. They were still covered in a layer of dust and had the look of being abandoned.

Kamata was sitting back in his desk chair waiting for me when I was ushered in and the door slammed behind me. He was wearing a simple black suit today, but I could see his trademark hat and coat behind him on a coat tree. He gestured for me to sit in the single chair in front of his desk with the hand that held his lit cigar. He savored a few more puffs before acknowledging me again.

"Ms. Gonzalez, the war is getting worse. You will be going directly through enemy territory and it is unlikely that they will allow it."

He waited for me to react. I had had several almost mishaps because of cops or other Yakuza trying to intercept the shipment. When I didn't comment, he continued.

"What you're running is a significant investment; I trust you will remember this." He set his cigar down in his ash tray and slid open a drawer. He withdrew a black pistol and a clip of ammunition. My heart started to thump against my sternum and my eyes unconsciously cut to the door as he loaded it and set it in front of him.

"I rather hope you don't have to use this, but I trust you will be able to if it comes to that. If you are not, I will replace you with someone who is."

Z

I took every curve with vicious ferocity. A quick glance at my rear view mirror revealed that the black Civic was still behind me. The war will be worse? He probably should have should have mentioned the top street racers of Osaka will be paid to run you headfirst into a tree. I thought bitterly as we were slammed into again.

I grumbled in Spanish under my breath as I jerked the gear shift and yanked on the e-brake. I looked over at the Yakuza next to me. He was gripping the armrest on the side of the door so hard he was leaving marks.

After a lot of turns onto random side roads and doubling back through pedestrian filled neighborhoods and skinny back alleys, I managed to lose him. I pulled through the doors of the warehouse and killed the engine of the Z I was driving that night. I leaned back into my seat with an exhausted sigh. The gun I had carelessly shoved into my waistband jabbed into my hip bone uncomfortably.

The Yakuza muttered something that sounded like "good job" and stepped out to grab the bags. I watched him lazily from the side mirror for a second before getting out myself to stretch my legs a little.

I still couldn't shake the feeling of paranoia. It was dark on the inside without the light from my headlights, but there was obviously no one here besides What's-his-name and me. I checked my watch and started unconsciously fingering the smooth, cold metal of the gun at my hip. We only had to wait there a couple of minutes for the Osaka runner to take the shipment from us. Unless something had happened to him, of course.

"Give me the keys." I said in very slow Japanese. This didn't feel right. I wasn't allowed to have them when we were stopped and I was probably going to get slapped for my insolence, but I didn't care. To my absolute surprise, he wordlessly handed them over and motioned for me to hurry and put them in the ignition.

An icy cold chill of paralyzing fear shot down my spine as I caught a bit of movement in a corner. My eyes shot over to the Yakuza who had noticed it too and was reaching for his hip holster that had been hidden by his jacket. The crack of a shot rang through the building before he could get it drawn. I threw myself down as on the concrete floor a second later as the second bullet shattered the window above my head and rained glass down on me.

I scrambled for the gun as the shadow of a man stepped out from his hiding place with a gun by his side. He approached me with smooth, long strides as I tried to free the gun from the hem of my shirt. I had landed awkwardly and was having an awful time trying to get it and keep it hidden. The element of surprise couldn't hurt here, right?

He grabbed my collar and forced me to my feet the second he got to me. He pushed his fist up against my throat and held me against the side of the car while I struggled fruitlessly. He kept muttering menacingly at me in Japanese with what I was sure was threats of what was going to happen later, but I couldn't make out a word because I was too focused on the gun an inch from my nose. He let go, which knocked me off balanced, before he grabbed a fistful of my hair and into the slightly cracked open top of my door. I felt my head spilt open on the edge.

The pain snapped me out of my stupor and I forced my index finger around the trigger. He dragged me up again and turned me to face him as he landed a solid hit on my cheekbone. I shoved the gun against his sternum and pulled the trigger.

I braced myself for the feeling of recoil, for the loud boom, for the feeling of hot blood spattering on me, but none of it ever came; something went wrong with the gun and it wouldn't fire. I felt panic rising in my chest as I tried several more times. The man stiffened in shock from having the gun knocked against his chest and I took that opportunity to raise my arm and slam the part of the gun that held the clip directly into his nose. He stumbled backwards and another shot echoed through the building, splattering hot blood all over me.

Oh, God. I'm dead. I'm dead and it didn't hurt that much. I opened my eyes slowly and took in the sight of the Osaka yakuza sprawled on his side. There was a wound on his neck that was pouring blood all over his now disheveled suit. Some of his tattoos were showing where his shirt was moved to the side in the struggle. I didn't know if I needed to be disgusted or relived.

I heard my Yakuza fighting to stand somewhere near my back bumper. I couldn't look away from the body long enough to see where he'd been shot. After he'd managed to stumble over to me, he grabbed my chin and jerked my face towards him so he could see check my head wound. It stung, but aside from the annoyance of hot blood dripping beside my right eye, it was nothing. I could see blood starting to slide between the man's fingers that were pressed against his left side. It was not a fatal shot; it hit more towards his hip bone that it did any organs.

Not knowing what else to do, I picked my way around the body and the growing blood pool to my trunk. I pulled out the bag of spare clothes I kept in case of emergency and grabbed one of DK's old shirts off the top. The Yakuza snatched it out of my hand and pressed it firmly to his side. The wetness on the black shirt was obvious.

I moved to get in the driver's seat so I could get us out of there, but he snagged my wrist and pulled the gun out of my hand.

"Safety." He said in heavily accented English as he flicked it off and then back on again before he handed it back . Of frickin' course.

The Yakuza dragged himself to his side and limply sat down. He pulled out his phone and started blathering in Japanese. I started the engine and flew out of the building. I tried to stay calm and take the curves just like I could any other day, but as the adrenaline wore off, the blood loss started to make my head spin.

"Back to Kamata." The Yakuza said when he hung up. I looked over to check his condition; he had started ripping off his shirt sleeves and uses them for bandages. I wished he had done that sooner; despite the shirt I gave him, he was bleeding all my seats.

Z

The fumes of adrenaline got me back to Kamata's office in one piece, but I was in a lot of pain and almost physically sick from the dizziness. I was expecting to get an angry Yakuza boss and a shot to the head when I got back, but instead there was a middle aged doctor with medical supplies already laid out.

After I got my head stitched back together, I spent the day sprawled on the lumpy, misshapen couch with someone's tie around my head to keep my bangs out of my stitches. The events of yesterday swirled around in my concussed head.

I couldn't decide what to feel. I was a Gonzalez; we buried our feelings deep, and if we ever started to remember them, we took a shot of tequila and buried them deeper. I felt tired of being sad and afraid. I was tired of cowering in my apartment. I made the decision that I done and that I was going to start living again.

What was the point in being disappointed in my uncle and feeling disgusted at his betrayal? He'd probably already been murdered and thrown in the ocean by the loan shark. Even if he wasn't, I knew he was too much of a coward to ever approach me.

That got me thinking about Sean. His words finally started to sink in and before long I was burning with anger. Who the heck did he think he was anyway? He had the worst temper issues of anyone I had ever met. He had no right to lecture me about my bad habit of skipping town for the weekend and doing something reckless when he handled things by picking fight with the most well connected person he can find.

I was mad as hell at Sean, but I was going to end this fight. Dad would be furious at us for fighting when we needed each other most. I loved him just as much as I did Brent, and I needed him just as much as I did Brent. When something catastrophic happened, I always had those two and they always had me. Sean's hard headedness was ridiculous and all I had to do to get my brother back was give him the reality check of a lifetime.

By the time noon rolled around I was pacing like a trapped tiger and ready to go give Sean a piece of my mind. Kamata had almost refused to let my go without calling someone to drive me, but I insisted it was a flesh wound, and I'd be fine. It didn't work, but as soon as DK dragged his lazy ass out of bed at around one, I was able to get a ride home. He made me wear someone's undershirt because mine was blood soaked after I had to stop and help the guy with me. If I didn't change, he was going to refuse to let me in his car.

I looked like death on a cracker when I stumbled into the back door of Han's garage after finally getting back to my own car and driving myself. I still had the tie as a head band, the entirely too big undershirt over my black sports bra, and a bruised and still a little blood stained face. Han was entertaining a small group of people when he heard me come in.

His smiling face appeared over the railing only to change to concerned shock. He was down the steps and inspecting my head before I could blink.

"It's not that bad." I shrugged him off. "Where's Sean?"

"What happened?" He ignored my protests at his mothering and kept inspecting my new stitches.

"You were right. About everything. An argument got a little out of hand." He hummed while he felt of my head for any non-visible bumps hidden by my hair.

"We got attacked over the shipment. Guy with me got shot, but he saved my ass. I want to fix things with Sean. I don't want to die without finishing this."

The sound of the Hulkmobile pulling up echoed through the garage. I could hear Twinkie and Sean start walking towards us. I gave Han an I-got-this look and he let me go.

"Wha-" Sean stared at me like a fish out of water when he saw me. I attempted to storm up to him, but it probably wasn't very threatening considering how much the floor was spinning.

"Get in the car." I told him flatly as I stopped and drew myself up to my full height of 5'2".

"You're hurt." He whispered guiltily as he reached out to touch the side of my face. I slapped his hand away.

"Boy, get in the car. We're going for a ride." It felt good to mess with him. I always won our fights by screwing with his head. He started to visibly pale from what he thought was a threat. I was Yakuza after all. I might as well start owning it.

"Oh, so now you're scared of the Yakuza." I taunted as I walked over to my Rx-8, which I changed into while my Z was getting fixed.

"Where are we going?" He asked cautiously.

"You're going to see exactly what this family messed with." Pure horror spread across his face. "Chill out, papi. I'm bringing you back just as you are now at the end."

He flinched at the word papi. That was the sarcastic term I used when I were arguing with Brent or my dad. It was a habit I got from my harpy of a grandmother who made Sean cry every time she visited.

"You hit your head." He stuttered.

"That's why you're driving."


	7. Chapter 7

7

“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness."  
Robert Muller 

Z

Tokyo was famous for its bright and random culture. Its streets were always teaming with different types of people. The younger people in Tokyo were always displaying their creative fashion choices that would put Lady Gaga to shame. The people who were office workers could always be seen hurrying off to whatever job they had next in their conservative suits. Even a few older women could be seen still wearing kimonos.  
But even in the mass amounts of people, it was still possible to pick out who was Yakuza. They always dressed in expensive suits and sunglasses or extremely tacky sweat suits. They carried themselves through the crowd with an air of authority and self-importance that made people step aside.

The further you got into their territory, the more obvious it got. Normal people wouldn't dare venture into this part of town. The Yakuza got a little careless with letting their tattoos be seen. They were usually very open with who they were in the daytime, but in the night in this part of town it was a whole different side of them. The mafia didn't hide here. They had no reason to; they owned the city.

"Up on the right." I directed Sean. He pulled up to the curb and turned off the engine.

We were in post-apocalyptic, boarded up section of Tokyo where Kamata's guys thrived. There were a couple of sketchy looking people floating around between buildings, but apart from that there was nothing. The street lights flicked on around us as the sun sank behind the buildings. They were dim and didn't help illuminate the streets at all.

I chose this place on purpose. We were on the very edges. Sean got a peek of the other side, but he didn’t get the full on view. He needed to be aware of what was going on, but he didn’t need to know everything. He’d do something stupid to get me out if he knew how bad things really were. 

"See the light down that street?" I pointed down the street perpendicular to us where an alley was obviously brightly lit up.

"Yeah. Han showed me where they stayed."

"No, he showed you the street Kamata's club was on. This is the red light district." He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Kamata told me I owed him my uncle’s dead and I had to work it off. The trick he pulled on me, is pulled on thousands of girls every day. A lot of them wind up there." I pointed down the street where a couple of men had just turned into the alley from another part of the street. "Some get tricked into coming because they think they have honest jobs lined up. Doesn't matter. It all ends the same."

My cynical tone caught Sean's attention. His lips pursed together and forehead started to scrunch up in thought.

"Why do you help these people? If they to do this to people, why work for them? You’re just as bad."

My burning anger had slacked off. I was exhausted and didn't have the energy to be angry anymore. I got annoyed at Sean's comments like that, but at least I didn't feel like I was going to reach across the car and deck him.

“I’ve struggled with that for a long time, but the truth is I’m in the same boat as those girls. If he ever gets really angry with me, he’ll turn me into one of those girls or he’ll kill me, and honestly I hope he kills me. Come on. We’ve got a few more places to go."

I took him to every drug store house, chop shop, and Yakuza alley I could without being spotted. I was absolutely terrified of being followed, but I never saw any sign of a tail. There was always a chance someone would recognize my car, so I had Sean pull up as far away as possible. 

Despite only showing him glimpses of Kamata’s world, he started to look more freaked out after every stop. By the time we pulled into our last stop, I knew he believed there was no way in hell I took this job willingly. Though to keep him convinced, I made a mental note to not show him my apartment for a while; it would be hard to call myself a victim in my two bed room lavish apartment while Sean was sleeping in his dad’s closet.

When Sean parked at the waterfront I immediately stepped out of the car. I was dizzy and had to lean on the fender for a second, but I managed to walk out by the water. The fresh air coming over the water kept me from throwing up, but the nausea was still overwhelming. Sean warily came to stand beside me. He stopped a good distance away from me, but that didn't hide how white his face was.

"Is this the part where you whack me?" He asked nervously. I snorted quietly.

"No, you're family; even if it's not blood." A cold breeze hit me carrying the scent of fish and saltwater. I pulled my arms into my chest and hoped the wind would slack off.

"You weren't running this time." Sean stated.

"Not yet, anyway. I'm getting out of here. It might take a while, but when I get a chance, I'm gone."

"Now you sound like the Ellie I know." His twang was closer then I was expecting. I stiffened when he pulled me into a hug.

"I've been half dead since I got to Tokyo. I just now snapped out of it." I started to shiver from the cold wind. I had forgotten my coat at Kamata's.

"What made you snap out of it?" He asked quietly. I looked away from the water to glance at him.

"Han has been trying to get me away from Kamata. Twinkie has been trying to get me away from DK. It eventually started working. They both seem to think that Han is watching me for them, but they have no idea he’s helping me get ready to leave entirely."

"DK? You were with him?" Sean leaned down so I he could look me dead in the eye.

"Not like that!" I sputtered quickly. "His uncle was thoroughly convinced I was going to do something incredibly stupid, so he pushed me into his nephew's little crew so they could keep an eye on me."

"What are you doing for his uncle?" Sean asked me.

"What you do for Han, but with drugs or huge sums of money. One of his guys is always with me on a run to make sure I don't try to skip town. I don't know why everyone is convinced I'm going to take off. I always came back before."  
Sean started laughing. "Yeah, with a purse full of other people’s wallets, the keys to some fancy car you grabbed out of a pocket-"

"Okay, you've made your point. Can you blame me, though? Our family was nuts. It was good to get away for a while. You used to do the same thing." I countered with a red face. It didn't do much to keep me warm.

"No, I definitely didn't."

"How many times has your mama had to move towns because you have a lead foot and a quick temper?" He didn't answer." That's what I thought." I added victoriously.

"At least I didn't join the mafia! That's the dumbest thing you could have done in Japan."

"I always thought the dumbest thing was Morimoto, but that's close second." He chuckled at my corny joke.

"Come on. Let's go home; you're freezing and delirious."

"I brought you out here to make a very important point, but I’m so tired I can’t remember what it is. It was something hugely dramatic that referenced the Godfather." I shrugged and turned to walk back to the car with him.

"I don't know either." He chuckled and opened the passenger side door for me. I ignored it and got in the driver's side.

"No. You have a concussion."

"Come on, chicken." I taunted as I started the engine and patted the passenger seat. The evil grin on my face made him stop for a second to consider his options. He finally got in.

Z

Half an hour later Sean was seriously regretting that choice. I had taken the mountain road that Han had shown me the day I had a meltdown after the police raid. I was shooting up the mountain with a happy, evil grin stuck on my face, which probably looked demonic because of my injuries and slightly blood covered face. Sean was white faced and kept looking like he was going to bail out the second he got the chance.

Apparently Sean had never been in the car with someone while they drifted. Of course, not that many people took the turns quite as aggressively as I did. I started chuckling to myself when I saw his terrified expression. He glared at me and pointed at the windshield, telling me to watch the road.

"How'd you learn how to drift?" He asked shakily.

"Shi taught me. Outside of Rock Hill there was an old air base and Cessna graveyard that we turned into a track. We drifted around the planes and drag raced on the runways." I smiled at the memories of smoking my friends a million times on that homemade track.

Shi was a member of my dad’s team that was ex Triad. He spent a lot of time sleeping off a hangover on our couch. He was an amazing driver, but he always reminded me of a dirty trial lawyer.

"Wow. Suburbville, Arizona heard of drifting before I did." He commented dryly. Rock Hill was the worst town on the planet. It was filled with snooty, white picket fenced neighborhoods where almost everyone had the 2.5 kids, a golden retriever, and membership to the country club. It was in the middle of the desert and had no reason to be so stuck up, but it was.

My friends were mostly the kids that didn't fit in with the stick thin blonde girls and broad shouldered football jocks. Dad stuck me in the town's private school the first chance he got. The public school was not bad at all; the only reason it really differed were the kids there had a little less money. He swore it was so I would be challenged more and quit doing things out of boredom. All he did was paint a target on my back for being the kid of a mechanic amid all the perfect children of doctors and lawyers.

"No, just its outcasts." I quipped.

"Don't you mean gaijin?" I rolled my eyes.

"I threw a wrench at Morimoto for calling me that." Sean started laughing. "Han was standing there and couldn't quit laughing."

"You spend a lot of time with Han?"

"He was my third friend besides Neela and Twinkie. Neela and I don't get to hang out a lot because either I'm busy, or DK's being possessive. Twinkie drags me to the garage every chance he gets."

"Twinkie was my first friend. He tried to sell me something during lunch, and I went with him to the races that night." I started laughing. "What?"

"Twinkie and I met when he tried to sell me something." I smiled at the happy memory of spending over an hour talking to Twinkie over lunch about everything under the sun. 

"How'd you meet Han?" Sean glanced over to see my reaction. 

"DK sent him to get me ready for a race. I literally bumped into him a week later after a bad run."

"Like, this run bad?" He pointed at my bruised cheek.

"No. What I was doing kind of hit me. I had to stop by DK's storage closet to drop my car off because it needed some body work. I hadn't told him or Twinkie that I was working for Kamata, but DK did it for me. Han took me drifting afterwards. I was kind of surprised, actually; usually people don't handle finding that out well."

"Is he working for Kamata too?"

"He works for himself. He just occasionally consults DK and pays Kamata his cut." I answered.

I came to the top of the mountain and turned around. Sean protested when I started driving back down again, but there was no way in hell I was letting him drift in my car.

I got us back to Han's in one piece, but my night of driving and sleeping on the lumpy old couch was finally catching up to me. I had to force my legs to pull me out of the car. I looked up at the loft to see Twinkie flying down the stairs. He gave Sean a quick once over, then started looking at me. He hadn't gotten a very good luck at my injuries when he had gotten back from school.

"Damn, girl." He said as touched my hairline near my stitches. "How did you not get killed?"

"There was someone else with me. If it wasn't for him, I would have been." I answered truthfully. I pulled my head away from Twinkie's hand and gave Sean a quick hug goodbye before he made his way over to his Evo. "I gotta go. I really need to get a shower and some sleep." I muttered.

"I'll drive you." Twinkie said as I hugged him goodbye too. "There is no way I'm letting you go by yourself like this."

"I'm fine. I drove back here by myself. I can make it home" That might have been convincing if I hadn't been using Twinkie as a prop.

"Don't let her go." Sean yelled from his place under the hood of his Evo. Of course, go back to your car. It's much more important than your concussed best friend who needs a ride home. 

"Come on." Twinkie smiled at me as he pulled me to the Hulkmobile.

I laid my swollen face against the cold window as Twinkie pulled out onto the street. His furry seat covers were comfortable and inviting as I snuggled into them and started to doze off. I was vaguely aware of Twinkie turning his music down so I could sleep.

I was exhausted but for once I was happy. Han was right; this was my chance to get my life back. I was going to find a way out from under Kamata's thumb. Sean and I were back together. For the first time in a long time, I didn't feel alone. Things could only get better from here.


	8. Chapter 8

8

I feel the dread of this place overpowering me. I am in fear-in awful fear-and there is no escape for me.

Dracula, Brom Stoker

"Ellie? You have to get up. You're not supposed to sleep like that if you have a concussion." The Australian accent floated through the pile of pillows I was surrounded by and finally dragged me out of slumber. My head and cheek was throbbing twice as bad as they were before when I at least had a little bit of adrenaline still flowing.

I groaned and sat up slowly like Frankenstein's monster. That was probably a pretty accurate description considering how blue my face was. I forced my eyes open slowly. When everything came into focus, I saw Neela sitting on the end of my bed in a button up shirt and jeans with her ever present boots on top. The sunlight was streaming in from the open door. It had to be early afternoon.

"Morning." I mumbled groggily. I ran a hand through my knotted hair that hung in twisted waves because I went to bed with it wet without so much as combing it. I also noticed I didn't unmake my bed, which explained why I was under a mountain of throw pillows.

"Afternoon." She replied with a cheeky grin. "I brought you take out." She picked up a grease spotted paper bag that had been on the floor beside her foot.

"I know I don't say this much, but you're my best friend ever. I knew there was a reason why I gave you my spare key." She laughed.

I dragged myself out of bed and into the kitchen without changing out of my sweat pants or trying to fix my hair. Neela chattered about everything that had been going on with her school friends or DK's crew while I ate silently. I nodded every once in a while even though I was much too tired to take in what she was saying. I laid my head down on the cold counter top after I finished eating and continued to block her out.

"-and then there's Han's new guy." I immediately started to listen when she mentioned Sean. My selective hearing had yet to let me down. She told me everything from when she met him in the subway to when he made her mad the other night with his speculations on how she wound up in the drift world.

"Can you believe he called me a pissed off army brat?" She asked indignantly. She seemed to really like him up to that point.

"Don't take it personally." I told her. "He almost described himself. Except he's more of a troublemaker than an army brat."

"You know him?"

"He was like another brother."

"Did he tell you why Han gave him the keys?" I peeked at her from under my elbow. Her face was lit up with curiosity.

"No. I really should have asked. I meant to ask Han the other day, but it slipped my mind."

"How is Han doing?" Neela asked innocently. I got up from my bar stool to get a bag of ice. I took my sweet time which started to get on her nerves.

"Good, I guess. I haven't really talked to him." I replied nonchalantly. I could tell she was up to something and it made me nervous.

"I talked to Twinkie the other day." A sly smile spread across her lips.

"About what?" I asked cautiously.

"He said that Han's latest fling left in a huff because she was jealous of you. Now why would some conceited supermodel would have a jealous fit over your friendship with Han?" She drawled out her question with a smug look. I knew she knew everything and was just waiting for me to say it.

"He kissed me and then got mad at her when she got possessive."

"I can't believe you made out with Han. Twinkie said there was something between the two of you," She had a wide grin pasted on her face.

"There's not. It was just a kiss. The boy always has his lips on somebody."

"Not someone under 5'10"." She teased. I let out a sigh.

I really liked Han, but there was never going to be anything there. I didn't want to wind up one of his flings that got tossed out after a week. I voiced that to Neela, but she just rolled her eyes.

"Han could use a girl like you." She replied.

"A hot mess?" I joked. She shot me a half-hearted glare. "And for the record, I think you could use a guy like Sean."

I stayed with Neela, talking and laughing like I didn't have a care in the world. At least, I did until my phone rang.

Z

It was hours later, and I couldn't quit quivering like a Chihuahua in a meat freezer.

Working for the mafia was a good job, when it was going right, but the second a problem arose, so did Kamata's temper. The man was terrifying enough to squash any thought of rebellion or any sign of incompetence I had by simply raising his voice at me, but that was never really enough for him. He had to get his threats across the most passive aggressive way possible, while waiting to tear me apart if I reacted.

Kamata was in a foul mood, which worsened considerably when I said something that he considered smart ass. He took me on a walk through his little empire of back streets through his loyal crowd of threatening subjects before he sat me down at a table to discuss the problems I had with my run with him personally. The table just happened to be in the back corner of a strip club where he forced girls to work for him.

I had to lock my muscles like they were in rigor to keep from shaking in front of him. Of course, knowing I was uncomfortable and hoping I would have a breakdown, he drug out the meeting for as long as he could.

I thought I was home free and was running for the door when a man grabbed me. It scared me so badly that I froze and he took the opportunity to spin me around and take a good look at me. They bantered back and forth for almost a full minute before I realized they were discussing numbers.

The second I was released and safely in my car, the trembling started. I was now safely on the couch of my garage and it hadn't stopped. I had nine text messages from Twink asking me to meet everyone at the garage so they could get something tweaked on Sean's Evo and then go to the mountains to practice, and I had ignored them all. I couldn't keep it together in front of them, and I especially didn't want to have a come apart in front of Sean; he had been like an over protective older brother to me, and I didn't want him to make him worry about me even more than he already was.

The plan of hiding out in my garage until I got myself calmed down was shot to hell when Twinkie called.

"Hello." I answered as steadily as possible.

"Thank God, girl. Didn't ya get my texts? We're meeting on the mountain." Twink yelled without a greeting.

"Twink, I'm tired." I whined.

"Are you sick? I can hook ya up with some lunch." He asked.

"No. I'm not, but-" I started.

"Okay. Then meet us on the mountain." I sighed as he hung up. Twinkie always made it so I couldn't tell him no when he wanted me to go somewhere. If I didn't show up, he'd come and get me.

I hauled myself up and started walking towards my car. It was only a couple of hours; I could do it.

Z

"Ellie! There you are. Come have a seat." Twink greeted me as he pulled his feet off the cooler being used as a coffee table so I could slip by and sit beside him. I propped my feet up on the cooler and crossed my arms over my chest before I exchanged a greeting with the people there, except for Han and Sean who were talking by the Evo. I was hoping the color would come back to my face before they noticed how pale I was.

They might actually not notice; they all knew what happened and were politely avoiding staring at my bruised and battered face.

I kept a forced smile on as I watched the people talk around me. I was still freaking out about what had happened earlier, and if they weren't so distracted bickering about Sean's driving they could have spotted it immediately. I tried to follow the conversations around me, but my mind kept straying.

What happened to me when I wasn't useful as a driver anymore? Would I just be shot? Would I be made to work off the debt in another part of the Yakuza's businesses? That thought sent a shudder through me as I thought of the way some of those girls looked at me. Some of them looked at me helplessly like they were begging me to do something to get them out of there, which I couldn't do. Others looked at me with pure anger and resentment because I was sort of free and they were not. I was barely surviving now; I would not be able to live like that.

"Again!" Han's voice snapped me back to present as he yelled at Sean. I wasn't paying attention and barely heard the roar of the Evo. I watched Sean flip around and turn back towards the bottom of the road. Han scraped his fingers through his hair to fix the damage done by the wind from the passing car and recrossed his arms as he watched Sean's tail lights disappear.

"Hey, Elle." He called.

"Yeah?" I answered slowly.

"Come see what we got to work with." He yelled back. I reluctantly pulled myself off the couch and stepped over the cooler to stand beside him. "How's you're head?"

"It hurts."

I snuck a glance at his handsome face from my spot next to him. His full lips were pushed together in concentration and his dark eyes were zeroed in on the first visible curve that Sean was going to be round in a few seconds. I was grateful for the distraction that Sean was providing, because the second he looked at me, he would know something had gone wrong with Kamata. He always was very good at seeing through people.

The Evo shot down the road before twisting ungracefully into the bend and lurching out at an awkward angle. I ground my teeth together at the protesting screeches the brakes made as Sean over shot the next corner. Shifting restlessly on my feet, I rubbed my eyes and hoped it would get better. It didn't.

"Again." Han yelled to him. Mouthing curses to himself, Sean smacked the steering wheel and tore off back down the mountainside to start again.

"He'll get it." I told Han quietly. I saw Han turn his head to study me from my peripheral vision.

"It'll take some time." He conceded.

"He's stubborn. He'll get it done." I promised Han with a fake smile before turning back to stretch out on the couch beside Twinkie. All I needed to clear my head was a short nap.

Z

"You got better towards the end." I informed Sean from my seat on the bottom of the stairs from Han's loft as I watched him work with renewed vengeance on the engine of the Evo. Failing to get a really decent run out of the day left him in a frustrated and cranky mood.

"Not good enough. I'm still over steering real bad on most of the corners." He growled back.

"It takes time Sean." I replied flatly. I rested my chin on my crossed arms lying on my knees as I watched him fuss over his car. He went over every part like it had the magic secret to getting everything right.

I quickly grew bored of sitting there watching him work, but I was too lazy to drag myself back up the stairs to go sit with Twink, Earl, and Reiko. Plus, Han's current fling was hovering around him. I had no idea what this one's name was, but she was a brunette that wore extremely tight clothes, had disproportionately long legs, and didn't really talk to anyone but Han; by my guess, she only had about four more days before he got bored and she was switched out for a new tight clothes wearing, long legged brunette.

I yelped in surprise as a soft, gray object came out of no where and bounced off the side of my face. The offending object happened to be the rag that Sean had been using to wipe grease off his hands. I glared up at him to see him smirking at me.

"What was that for?" I yelled at him.

"I asked you four times to grab me some water, then I realized you'd been staring into space without blinking for several minutes. I was making sure you hadn't died on me." He defended as he crossed his arms.

"I'm obviously still breathing." I snapped back before grabbing the chain railing and hauling myself to my feet. "I'll go get your freaking water."

"Thank you." He called at my back as I trudged up the steps. I rolled my eyes at him.

"I'm drinking the last water." Earl stopped arguing with Reiko long enough to yell from his table across the loft as he held it up to show me.

"Sorry, Sean. I'll get you some out of the sink." I suggested as I leaned over the railing. He dismissively flipped his hand at me without looking away from the car to tell me he didn't want any.

I left my place at the railing to wander over towards the bathroom. I saw Han walking the opposite way down the hall and scooted over to let him pass me. Instead of continuing out to the loft, he grabbed my arm and pulled me further down the hall.

"Tell me the truth." He said bluntly as he let me go to lean against the wall behind him. I frowned as I looked up to meet his dark eyes.

"It's honestly nothing." I lied. His gaze didn't waver.

"You've been shaking all day and you look terrified; you don't get like that from nothing. You're too strong of a girl." He deadpanned. I chewed on my bottom lip as I debated whether or not to lie to him.

"Everybody has their good days and their bad." I responded blandly. He obviously didn't believe me and continued waiting patiently for an answer.

"He was just-" I paused as I tried to think of a way to say it. "He made me sit across from him in the booth of one of his clubs and personally tell him what went wrong. He didn't do anything to me, besides be an asshole." I finally drug out.

"Strip club where he was selling prostitutes?" Han asked as he raised his eyebrows. He took my silence as a yes. He took his time to answer as he ran his hand through his hair again.

"Psychological abuse counts as doing something, Elle." He finally said.

"I'm just worried about what happens next time I screw up." I muttered in exasperation. "It was like he was showing me my endpoint."

He leaned forward to pull me into a hug. Not caring that I looked like a defenseless little kid, I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist and rested my head on his chest. I was overwhelmed by the smell of his amazing cologne.

"That's not your endpoint." He replied stubbornly. I tried to pull back from the hug which had lasted way to long for me to not look desperate, but he wouldn't completely let go. "You're going to be okay." He told me firmly.

"I'm okay now. Just, for a little while-" I trailed off with a grimace. I knew he understood.

He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine as my face heated up like it was on fire, which made me suddenly grateful for the poor lighting in the hallway. I wasn't sure if kissing Han was going to become a regular thing, but I was kind of hoping it did.

He ended it quickly and pulled back to look at me.

"You're sure your okay?" He asked again.

"Yeah, it just freaked me out. I'm good now." I replied as nonchalantly as I could possibly manage, which wasn't very.

"Call me next time he does this." He told me firmly.

"I'm not going to give him a reason to." I answered more confidently.

"It's not your fault. You know that, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's him being a passive aggressive asshole, but I'm going to avoid pissing him off." I responded. He nodded.

"You sticking around?" He asked as he finally let go of me completely.

"No, I was up all night and with Reiko, Earl, and Twinkie arguing I didn't get much of a nap." I answered tiredly.

"Can see that." He replied smoothly. "You're going to be there tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure." I almost stuttered.

"The docks. No later than eight-thirty. We're getting started early." He told me as he started walking back towards the loft.

"Good luck dragging Twinkie out of bed." I joked at his back.

"I'll need it." He replied. I laughed a little.

I watched him turn the corner and head back to the loft. I felt considerably better after talking to him.

It was nice to know that in this unpredictable lifestyle I had been thrust into, I at least had someone to count on.


	9. Chapter 9

This hurricane's chasing us all underground

Hurricane

30 Seconds to Mars

Z

Kamata gave me very little time off. He waited just long enough to make sure my head injury wasn't going to give me seizures and sent me out again. This time I had a new babysitter; a thin, tall guy that had a habit of staring at my breasts when he thought I wasn't looking. He was younger than the other guy, and I didn't like it. The other guy was more likely to chastise me for speeding like a dad than he was to try and get in my pants. I was honestly scared to be alone with the new one.

The reality was I might end up alone with him for a long time; there was a hurricane barreling for the coast due to make land fall at any time

The first bit of rain started when my Yakuza babysitter and I were a few miles away from the warehouse to drop the duffel bags I was running for Kamata. It quickly worsened to the point where I couldn't see out my windshield. It was coming down so hard that the trip from my trunk to the warehouse left me soaked to the bone and freezing cold.

After dropping off the bags and the Yakuza at a warehouse filled with stolen goods, I was told to stay or go home. Home sounded so warm and comfortable and inviting, but unfortunately it was halfway across the city. The storm was making it extremely difficult to drive and I knew it would take at least two hours to get there with the wind as fierce as it was. The Yakuza knew this, and was already pushing two couches together to make a bed.

I was feeling the same icy cold feeling in my veins as I was when Kamata took me to be appraised and I knew I would rather die in flood waters than stay. Without telling the Yakuza, I slipped out ran to the car.

With no where else to go to get out the storm, I turned towards Han's. I thought about calling Twinkie, to tell him I was coming, but multitasking just wasn't a good idea.

The lightening and wind had worsened by the time I parked in front of the club. The parking lot was completely empty; apparently the party was cancelled and Han had put his Mazda inside. I got a spot close to the wall of a neighboring building where the wind was blocked and the car was covered by the building's roof, but there was no way I wasn't going to get resoaked when I made a run for the door. I debated calling Twinkie and telling him I was there and to make sure the door was unlock, but a bright flash of lightening struck something nearby with an earsplitting crack. Spending another minute in my car didn't seem very safe, so I decided to risk it.

With a deep breath of preparation, I opened my door and flung myself out in the rain. The water flowing through the lot completely covered my poor battered Converse and made running difficult. The last few feet to the door were taken in a headlong leap as I tripped over something covered by the water. I caught myself on the door knob and started yanking at it only to find it was actually locked.

I groaned as I pulled out the bobby pin holding my wet bangs out of face and rammed it in the door lock. I paused for a second as I mentally debated whether or not Han would care that I was picking his lock, but then another flash of lightening lit up the sky. I just decided I'd tell him he left it unlocked.

The door swung inward with no resistance as the wind hit it and I had to struggle to reclose it. I made sure to relock it before I leaned back against it, shivering from the touch of the cold metal.

The few minutes spent out in the rain had left water running out of my hair and dripping off of me. A puddle was already forming at my feet, and I could feel the water getting soaked up by my socks as it seeped through my drenched Converse. I leaned my weight against the door to start pulling my socks and shoes off, before I tracked the water everywhere.

"Ellie?" A voice called from the door way of the storage room into the dark club.

"Oh, shit!" I screamed as I jumped at the shock of seeing Han, who had apparently come to check out the noise of the door slamming open, a few feet away from me. The tiny movement knocked me off balance and I slid straight to the ground.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he helped me up. I felt my cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

"I had a run. It was late and dark and the storm hit and this was closer and I'm really sorry, I should have called." The words tumbled out between the chattering off my teeth.

"He sent you out in this weather? God, your soaking wet." He muttered as he rubbed his hands on my arms to warm me up.

"I was supposed to be back before landfall, but the wind slowed me down." I explained quietly. "Sorry I just showed up; home was too far." I added as an after thought.

"There's always room for another person here. Besides, we're going to be stuck here for a few days; I need someone sane to talk to." He answered kindly. I moved a little bit closer to him for the body heat he was emitting. He noticed and pulled me into a hug. "Is your car okay? How'd you get in?"

"It should be. Parked it against the other building where it would block the rain. I really don't want to go move it right now." I felt his chin dip closer to the top of my head as he nodded. "I got in with a bobby pin, but it won't hurt your lock." I answered as I smushed myself against his warm, dry chest. I was still shivering.

"I don't care about the lock." He said in exasperation. "Why didn't you call?"

"I couldn't talk and drive with all of that." I waved my hand at the door. A well timed crack of thunder sounded. "And the lightening was so bad I didn't want to spend another second in my car."

"It's supposed to get worse." He said as his hand moved up to brush my wet hair out of my face. I groaned.

"Great." I said sarcastically. "I'll go home when there's a break." I told him. He let me out of the hug and started pulling me towards the VIP Room. I dropped my shoes and socks by the door so they wouldn't drip anymore than they already had.

"You're not leaving until it's over." He said firmly. I snorted as I pressed myself against his side, not caring that I was getting water all over him. "You're probably going to be sick until then anyway." He added as he looked down at me, which was pointless because none of the lights were on.

"It's just a little water." I responded nonchalantly as we pushed through the door into the garage, even though I was still shaking and trying to soak up ever bit of body heat I could from him. He chuckled humorlessly and shoved me towards the bathroom.

"Go take a hot shower. You left your laundry here; I can just toss you some clothes in." He commanded.

"I'll clean up the water when I get out." I responded. I could barely see him in the dark, but it looked like he shook his head no.

"I got that; you just get warm." He told me firmly.

Z

Half an hour later after thawing out under the warm water and making sure every trace of water was gone afterwards, the cold feeling hadn't completely left. My head was also pounding right behind my eyes and at the base of my skull as a migraine started.

I kept my aching head down in my hands as I stumbled out to the loft. It had to have been three in the morning at that point, and everyone was asleep, so I was careful not to bump into anything as I made my way to the couch.

I was almost to it when a shadow moved. My muscles tightened when it startled me, but then relaxed when I realized it was Han after a flash of lightening.

"You have got to stop scaring me." I muttered quietly as I felt behind me for the couch opposite his. I found the edge of the cushion and perched on it.

"You scare too easy." He replied in amusement.

"You keep popping out of the shadows." I countered. He chuckled and carefully stood up, skirted around the coffee table, and came to stand in front of me. He felt out in front of him for me, and I gave him my hands. Before I knew it, he had pulled me up and was steering me towards the hallway his room was on.

"You might be right about me being sick for the rest of the storm." I muttered as I snuggled my aching head further against his side as he put an arm around me. I felt less like I was going to fall down the stairs when I was that close to him.

"I figured." He replied quietly. "You were soaking wet and shivering; plus, the fact that you don't eat or sleep isn't exactly help either."

"I'm sure Twink'll force feed me all sorts of weird Japanese food while I'm here, so that'll fix the not eating thing; though I'm not sure I'll get much sleep with him, Earl, Reiko, and Sean around." I joked.

"No one will bother you in my room. I'll be careful not to wake you up in the morning." So he was staying there with me. I had wondered if he actually would. I had been expecting the "you're underage" conversation from him to happen any day. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he brought it up while I was in bed with him.

Han maneuvered us to his door in the complete blackness. After he opened his door, he slid in first and gently guided me around a laundry basket on the floor. He helped me get settled on one side of the bed before he walked around to get on the other.

My eyelids drooped as I got comfortable. They completely dropped shut when Han dragged a blanket off the end of the bed and covered us. I was actually a little glad that the I didn't make it home.

The wind seemed to pick up speed it slammed into the closed garage doors below and lightening struck something nearby. I briefly thought about my car, then quit caring; I had several others and my Skyline was my least favorite.

The storm could rage on as long as it wanted for all I cared; right now, I was completely comfortable and safe drifting off to sleep right beside Han.

AN: I hope some of you are still with me. I started working full time and my very long shifts have made reupdating very difficult. This next chapter will contain a lot of new material, so it may take a little while.

Please please review. This hasn't gotten a lot because it's a repost, but I really miss reading what you have to say about it.


	10. Turning Tables

10

I can't keep up with your turning tables.

Adele

Z

I was expecting to be woken up with a conversation about how Han was too old for school girls to be in his bed, but instead I got Earl making a scary face leaning over me with a flashlight. I'd slept around ten hours by that point and was absolutely starving. I was also feeling horrible after not getting much sleep, not eating much, and getting soaking wet during the run.

I passed the next few days goofing off with the team by the light of a battery powered camping lantern and a dozen candles while the storm raged on. I ended up sleeping on a futon in Han's storage room. When I left, he promised me it would always be open to me.

He threw up a wall after that night. I knew it was coming; our age gap was too much for him. He hadn't mentioned it since Sean had been back, but in the early months when my crush was just beginning, he made sure to mention not dating school girls to DK in front of me a few times. He wasn't trying to be cruel; he was trying to save my feelings. Liking Han was honestly the worst thing I could do to my emotions.

That hadn't stopped me from liking him. He was one of the few people I felt safe and completely comfortable with. He gave me butterflies when he looked at me. And he caused me a lot discomfort when he dragged his slutty models around in front of me.

One night it was really awful. The loft was filled with its usual swarm of pre-race people; Twink was running around selling things, the residents of the loft were laying around on the couches, models were walking around with champagne glasses, and Han was sitting on his favorite loveseat with a model on either side of him. Unfortunately, Han's many girls were ridiculously hard to ignore.

I had been sharing an arm chair with Reiko, laughing and joking with Earl and Jimmy, until they left to do some last minute tuning on Earl's car. Minutes later Han had shown up with two accented brunettes from God knows where and made himself comfortable. They both had on tight, low cut dresses that Han's eyes kept wandering over when he thought no one was looking. It managed to make me insanely jealous at the attention they were getting and very self-conscious of the modest outfit I was wearing that consisted of dark jeans and an ACDC v neck shirt.

I was having to force myself to act normal as Han alternated between having a conversation with me and kissing one of the girls. My face and neck kept getting hot as the blush I got when I was angry or annoyed spread across my skin. I thought I was doing a good job of pretending it wasn't there, but several times I caught Reiko smirking at me looking like a kid that had just been told a secret.

"Are you going to the races tonight?" Reiko finally interrupted our conversation about the newest body style on the Nissan Skyline. She slid off the chair and started walking over to her bunk to grab her makeup bag and her curling iron,

"That's tonight isn't it?" I groaned as I spread out into the space Reiko had been taking up. I was too tired to bother with getting dressed to go and I knew DK would have a stroke if I showed up looking like I was.

"You're not very good at keeping track of days are you?" Han said condescendingly. I had missed one of Sean's practice rounds earlier that week. Apparently Sean drove Han crazy worrying that something had happened to me.

"I just missed it once." I defended lamely. I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep lately from the hours I had been working and hadn't exactly been concerned about when I said I'd show up to watch Sean. He shook his head.

"This week." He added jokingly. One of the girls giggled.

I opened my mouth to make a snide comment when I got a text. I sighed and wrestled my phone out of my pocket.

DK: Get here. Need you to help with new transmission in Z.

There went my plan of getting a new car to replace my Z that needed repairing tonight.

While DK wasn't my boss, it wasn't a good idea to snub him. My stubborn refusal to be nice to him and his awful friends was driving Kamata absolutely crazy. It was so much easier to just spend an hour helping DK now than to not show up and get a lecture and a slap to the face from Kamata later. At least Neela would be there.

I felt Han's eyes on me as he waited for me to tell him if the text was a call in to work or not. I ignored him and continued staring at my phone.

With Neela there, I still might be able to make it to the races. She was a life saver when it came to girly crap I never bothered learning like clothes to wear to the races. If she let me borrow something, than I could avoid going home and be in time for some of the earlier races.

My phone vibrated again in my hand.

DK: You'd better be here in 15 minutes.

I glanced up to see Han had finally grown bored of watching me play with my phone and was refilling the models' champagne glasses. I winced in disgust when one of the girls started rubbing her hand down his neck. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Where are you going?" He asked when he saw me jump up and start to leave.

"I got places to be." I answered vaguely.

"We'll see you at the races later?" He asked without looking away from the model on his left.

"No idea." I answered flatly before hurried down the stairs to my car. I wasn't looking forward to spending the next few hours at DK's, and it was going to be a lot less fun if he was pissed because I was late.

Z

"There. It's done." I huffed as I tossed my wrench on a nearby table and started to stretch the kinks out of my back.

I glanced over to see DK too busy flirting with Neela to respond. I sighed as I ran my hand through my hair tiredly. After rushing me over here, he hadn't looked at me since he gave me the order; he had been driving Neela crazy as she tried to do her homework. The more she ignored him, the harder he tried to get her attention.

A light bulb went off in my brain, then quickly burnt out.

It was a horrible idea; ignore someone like that only worked if they knew you were there in the first place. Though Han's attention wasn't that hard to get.

"I'm done." I yelled louder. His head snapped towards me. "What time is it? I was hoping to get a replacement for the Z that got trashed a few runs ago." I asked.

"The races don't start until I get there, remember?" He answered cockily in Japanese as he walked over to his precious Z and ran his hands over the engine. I rolled my eyes when I was sure he couldn't see.

"Need something to wear?" Neela asked without looking up from her laptop.

"If you have something." I answered hopefully.

"Yeah." She shut closed her laptop and shoved it back in her school bag before looking at me with a smile. "If you're coming with me, we need to leave now." She pointed to her car. "You can just ride with me, and I'll drop you off back here."

"Works for me." I responded tiredly as I started for her car. I glanced over my shoulder to see DK pull her into a hug for a goodbye kiss. I rolled my eyes again. Within a minute, she had joined me in the car and we were flying out of DK's garage.

"Tight jeans and maybe a low-cut halter top okay?" Neela asked as she sped towards DK's grandmother's.

"I was thinking I'd wear a skirt this time." I suggested nervously, hoping she wouldn't ask. She flashed me a smile and I knew there was no chance of that.

"Why the sudden change?" She asked slyly.

"I can't choose to wear a skirt?" I answered like I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Reiko texted me to ask if you were with me. She said you were talking to Han and left with no explanation." She glanced away from the road to gauge my expression, obviously knowing he was the cause of my style change. "What'd he do?"

"He was kind of an ass." I said bluntly.

"That's not like him." She replied.

"He was teasing me, but he was kind of a douche bag about it." I continued with a sneer. She shook her head.

"I wouldn't talk to him at all tonight." She advised. I heaved a frustrated sigh.

"I'm not." I answered honestly.

I was getting really frustrated with my crush on Han. I knew having any kind of feelings for him was pretty dangerous; I had watched him toss countless girl to the curb. But for some reason, it wouldn't go away.

I'll just have to survive tonight, I guess.

Z

Neela did an amazing job picking out an outfit for me. I usually got stares when I showed up because of a few of the rumors circulating about me, but this time their eyes stayed on me.

I had curled my hair into loose curls and worn several layers of mascara and whore red lipstick. I had borrowed some sky high stripper heels, skin tight, short black leather shorts and a gray button up top partially opened to show a ton of cleavage and a lacy bralette. I began wishing I had worn pants whenever a draft would come through the parking garage.

I had missed the early races of the night, but I did manage to get into a later one for a Silvia. I was spending the extra time completely focused on my Rx-8. It was my favorite car to just drive around town in, and if I lost, I was not going to be happy.

"Nice engine. Was that turbo in it when you first got the car?" A Japanese accented voice came from behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder to see a clean, cut Japanese guy who looked like he was about twenty standing behind me. He looked a little like one of DK's guys: dark jeans, leather jacket, gelled hair, lead singer of the Artic Monkeys vibe, but he didn't radiate arrogance quite like they did.

"It was actually." I answered with a smile.

"Masaru." He said as he offered his hand.

"Ellie." I shook it.

He launched into a conversation about the car. He was very easy to talk to; he was always making me laugh. At some point, I accidentally met Han's eye across the parking garage. He was leaning against someone's car with a bag of snacks, and despite the girls surrounding him and DK, he was staring at me. I quickly jerked my head back to the car and refocused on what Masaru was saying.

I liked Masaru; he was talkative, friendly, and a bit of a goof ball. Unfortunately, he was one of those annoying touchy people that had to have his hand on the person he was talking to. It made me cringe when he put his hand in the middle of my back as we leaned over the engine, but I could tolerate it. When he wrapped his arm around my waist after we closed the hood and turned around to lean on it and watch the people, I wanted to shove him off the hood of my car.

"Aren't you cold?" He asked me when I tried to wiggle out of his grip.

"My legs are. You aren't helping that." I answered in a joking tone as I continued trying to get him to loosen up.

"Masaru, I think you should let her go already." We both glanced up to see Han standing a few feet away with his bag of chips. "Underage school girls aren't usually your type anyway." He added as he gaze shifted to me.

Masaru's arm was instantly gone from my waist. He made some pitiful excuse about having to find a friend and vanished. I was so busy glaring at Han I didn't even look to see which direction he went.

"What the hell?" I spat after Han refused to offer an explanation. He shrugged. "You've been an ass all damn day."

"Sorry." He responded without conviction.

"You're as bad as DK about not letting me talk to someone outside the crew." I snapped, knowing that it would strike a nerve. He cringed.

"I'm not DK." He replied firmly, obviously annoyed at the comparison.

"Obviously not; you have a massive problem with 'underage school girls'." I replied sarcastically. "Though I don't really qualify as a school girl." I reminded. He pressed his lips together.

He didn't respond. Angry at his silence, I spun around as well as I possibly could in Neela's high heeled shoes and attempted to stalk off to see how far away my race was. I got three steps before he caught my arm. I looked over my shoulder to glare up at him.

"You think he had good intentions for you?" He asked seriously. I laughed in his face.

"You think anyone here has good intentions for anyone else?" I shot back.

"Elle, you don't want to get involved with that guy; he's worse than Morimoto." He tried a different approach. I rolled my eyes.

"You don't get to call me Elle, right now." I bit out. "I can handle Morimoto." I reminded. He just shrugged. I exhaled slowly trying to get less angry.

"Sean would kill me if I let something happen to you." He reminded.

"Nothing's going to happen; I'm armed and everyone know I'm connected to the mafia." I replied stubbornly. Han ran a hand through his hair, frustration starting to show.

"You are impossible to deal with." He sighed.

"You're not any better. Do you know how hard it is to argue with someone who refuses to talk back?" He shook his head.

"Hey, Ellie." I heard a guy call. I turned around to see Masaru back again.

"DK sent me to tell you your race is next." He told me quietly.

"Finally." I muttered as I glanced back at Han.

"Did I interrupt something?" Masaru asked slowly.

"Of course not." I answered before Han could. I ignored him and stood up, adjusting my shirt.

"Can I get a lift back up?" Masaru asked as he ran his hand over the door handle to the passenger side. I nodded and he opened the door.

I glanced at Han once more as I dug my keys out of my pocket. To my surprise, he stopped me by placing both hands gently at the bottom border of my rib cage.

"I'm serious. Take care of yourself." He muttered before he gave me a quick peck on the lips. Horrified by the display of public affection that would definitely end up being reported to Kamata, I shrunk back from his touch. Seeming to understand my panic, he let go instantly of my waist.

"Good luck, Elle." He muttered against my lips after he pulled away. Before I could string together a reply, he had walked away and was disappearing in the crowds toward the elevator.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you two were anything." Masaru stated awkwardly when I got in the car. I waved him off like it was nothing as a blush spread across my neck.

"We aren't anything at all. Watch him; he does that to all his female friends." I gave him a thin smile despite my heart pounding in my chest.

Masaru was obviously nothing like Morimoto. So why would Han say he was worse?

A smirk spread across my face as I started the engine. I think I liked jealous Han.

**Author's Note:**

> Reposted from another site. I am the original author. Please don't flag me for plagiarism.


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